Aedas and Dpall Engineering (Sh) Co.,Ltd. have joint forces to create the urban design scheme for Chongqing Liangjiang Yuzui OPN Area Concept Planning & TOD Central Area.
The area involved is located in the heart of the Longsheng area, one of the three major sub-centers of Chongqing's new city, surrounded by a number of high-tech industries. In close proximity to parks and key railway stations, the project site is also surrounded by three rivers, forming a peninsula enveloped by beautiful sceneries.
Overall, the project is planned with the structure of a central ring, outer belt, and various pathways. The center is attached to a metro line to create a TOD commercial core region, around which revolves a functional ring that offsets the fragmentation caused by high-speed roadways, hosting a retail center as well as various public community service functions. A set of themed pathways links the inner region with an outer green belt containing public commercial and entertainment spaces, which opens up a channel between nature and cityscape.
Integrating ecology, public services and entertainment, the five-kilometer greenbelt connects various themed nodes such as the waterfront commercial block, wetland science museum, portal plaza, and more. The design incorporates with leisure functionalities, marrying city with nature to create a holiday destination for families.
The design creates multi-level vehicle traffic system that responds to the height difference of the site, combined with a sprawling walking system to form an efficient three-dimensional network connecting all plots.
Three themed sunken plazas are strategically placed in the core area where there will be a dense flow of people, designed as the locus for each individual retail block, all of which are connected to metro entrances. The open traffic flow, the vast scenic area and the variegated retail formats animate the core region with liveliness.
Meanwhile, boutique hotels, LOFT offices, and elite apartment towers retreat from the platform and are laid out around the plazas overlooking the urban vista; hewing to the roadways and towering high above the streets, they complete the core zone as a 24-hour active cityscape.
With the transit station as foundation, the design constructs a three-dimensional walkway system. It drives the circulation from the metro system to the retail and public space, while extending the connection further to the outer green belt park as well as to the landscape bridge. The diverse retail experience enlivens the area and helps to direct flow between plots. The landscape bridge connects and circulates the three retail blocks above ground level, and stands as the distinct landmark and attraction of the entire project. The open circular design allows people to roam light and unencumbered within the area as well as toward surrounding venues and communities.
"By grounding the design in TOD and incorporating multifarious functions that are seamlessly bounded without divorcing them from nature, we hope to create a future-oriented architecture embodying the notions of vitality, dimensionality, ecology, and technology." — Aedas Executive Director Yao Chun Wen.
