The brief for this urban vision competition was built around the creation of an ‘International Consumer Centre’ in an effort to lift Shenzhen (already China’s 4th City) into the global elite of destination cities.
Our vision was focused around a retail, consumer and commercial core, but introduced significant elements of cultural, educational, transport and public amenity uses, to create a vibrant mixed use city quarter with homes for up to 100,000 people.
Sungang means ‘Bamboo shoot hill’ and Qingshuihe, ‘Clear river water’. Together with the site’s extraordinary topography, these cues led us to focus on creating large areas of parkland linking existing hills, mountains and lakes with new public realm. As a focus and emblem of regeneration and renewal, we gave the scheme the twin butterflies of Sungang-Qingshuihe, which would act as a catalyst for investment and development by providing a global icon and visitor attraction.