China

The Happiness Forest Belt project encompasses a total length of 5.34km and an area of 73.19ha. The design is based on the concept of an 'urban green valley' extending the green infrastructure, opening underground space, and penetrating the green network layer vertically to form a three-dimensional urban green valley.

After completion, the project will provide an extra 700,000sqm of landscape area to the public, leveraging nearly 600ha of land premium, increasing potential land value by 2.2billion USD, and benefiting 30 surrounding communities, 15 villages in the city, covering a population of 250,000.

The project will also drive the development of the surrounding 5skqm core area and 17skqm of coverage area, helping the region to achieve its positioning as one of Xi'an's key city sub centres, creating an ecological green valley for the city, as well as a happiness green valley for the people.

This expansive River Park will become an ecological oasis at the gate of the city, a vibrant living room where the public gathers, and a future water town for innovation. Derived from the local culture of a water village, we proposed the design concept of 'Running Water, Green Oasis'.

Based on the current site condition and the surrounding land. The design divides the site into three themed zones: the ‘Lohas-Land,’ the ‘Memory-Land’ and the ‘Bloom-Land’. The design team also developed a series of sub nodes including Green Heart Lake, creating a world-class urban central park.

Atkins was invited to participate in the landscape design competition of the plot in April 2019 using the experience of London's 2012 Olympic Park to the Chengdu world Universiade, to realize a 'Sports Park in the Park City'.

We proposed a U-shaped landscape structure within a unified architectural design language, to create a connected urban space. Atkins won the first prize in the competition and in the following two years, Atkins cooperated with the site owner of the scheme to expand the project provide construction reviews and eliminating the boundary of the park. The integration of sports park and Dong'an Lake Park has not only helped the smooth implementation of the main venue of the world Universiade, but also implemented the concept of a Park City.

Bridges are key traffic hubs in Guangzhou, delivering movement convenience and economic prosperity to the city but also as an integral part of the beautiful urban landscape, which reflects the city’s profound history, humanistic and art values.

In order to better present the urban landscape of the city and its characteristics, the Guangzhou Municipal Government commissioned Atkins to develop proposals to further enhance the urban landscape as 'One Bridge, One Scenery'. By enhancing details and quality into the designs, the plan is to develop a unique city culture through a highly blended bridge-scape, to achieve the integration of art, life, and function.