Boulder Park is a 13,000-square-metre community park in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province in eastern China. Centred on the motif of the boulder — a symbol of permanence — it reinterprets this natural form as both landscape and play element. Boulders above a sandpit become climbing and resting structures, while stones in the shallow creek form part of the water play installation. At its heart, a vast rock cave adventure space has been realised using advanced 3D concrete printing technology.
Designed by Shanghai-based XISUI Design, the park weaves together children’s play areas, water features, and natural landscapes to create a space for intergenerational interaction and community life. The design is structured into distinct zones, each tailored to a particular activity and atmosphere.
Play and interaction
The all-age Boulder Playground and neighbouring Water Garden provide a wide range of opportunities for play and exploration. Swings, slides, seesaws, trampolines, and climbing structures are set within a landscape of stones and concrete caves, supporting children’s physical growth while encouraging balance, coordination, and problem-solving through play.
To the west, shallow streams and interactive water features blend into the natural setting. Children can experiment with fountains, jumping springs, winding creeks, and a water turntable, using pumps and pressure devices to explore water’s movement and qualities. These playful interactions foster curiosity and build a direct connection with nature.
3D-printed landscapes
The park’s defining feature is its use of 3D concrete printing. This additive manufacturing process enables the creation of monolithic structures with free-form, curvilinear shapes that would be difficult to achieve with traditional formwork. A robotic arm extrudes semi-liquid concrete, which solidifies layer by layer to build the structure. Digital design and material science combine to produce forms that are both functional and expressive, demonstrating a close fusion of technology and art.
The printing process also produces distinctive stratified textures that echo natural rock formations and integrate with the surrounding stone landscape. For children, playing among these artificial “boulders” is akin to exploring a real canyon. Subtle curves in the surfaces naturally form steps, slides, handrails, and seating, bringing function and form into harmony. By delivering a level of precision often difficult to achieve with conventional techniques, 3D printing makes it possible to mould complex organic shapes as single, durable structures.
Designing for safety and resilience
Safety was a primary consideration. All installations are designed with smooth edges and rounded corners to eliminate hazards, while the cave-like play spaces combine slides, tunnels, and speaking tubes within a carefully controlled environment.
“Landscape structures and installations are often small in scale, with low load requirements and simple functional needs. In this context, 3D-printed concrete offers diverse applications beyond what is possible in traditional architecture,” explains Hu Yihao, Lead Designer at XISUI Design. “Although the material still presents challenges, such as uneven stress distribution and limited reinforcement methods, the 3D-printed concrete used in Boulder Park achieves an average strength of 50 MPa, surpassing the standard C40 concrete grade. This specification more than meets the structural demands of landscape installations. Moreover, outdoor durability, the ability to form organic shapes, efficient construction and installation, and reduced labour costs make 3D printing particularly well suited to such projects.”
Resource efficiency and circularity
Boulder Park’s design incorporates a number of sustainability strategies. The use of a 3D printing mix with low-carbon substitutes such as fly ash and recycled aggregates reduces embodied carbon, while the additive process itself minimises waste compared to traditional formwork. Operational impacts are kept low by fully recirculating water in the play features, with a mix of manual press-to-draw devices and efficient pumps. At the end of their service life, the printed elements can be crushed for reuse as aggregate, and their modular construction allows for disassembly and potential relocation, extending the project’s contribution to circularity.
Towards new models of public space
Boulder Park demonstrates how 3D concrete printing can enrich public space, blending advanced technology with natural forms. By integrating printed elements with the landscape, the park provides opportunities for play, exploration, and connection with nature. The project shows how innovation and tradition can come together to shape public spaces that enrich daily life, combining function with aesthetic appeal.
