Aspect Studios has won an international design competition for a campus park project in Hangzhou, China, for Alibaba’s headquarters.
According to the practice, the design takes inspiration from the city’s Xixi Wetland – a local national park with more than 4,000 years of history and significant cultural heritage importance.
Aspect Studios said it created a design proposal based on the “unique ecological texture” and focused on an interconnected network of layered design systems.
“Water, biodiversity, people and culture come together in a webbed network of experience and natural beauty to create a stimulating and engaging campus environment for over 30,000 Alibaba staff,” the landscape architects said.
Aspect Studios has won a design competition to design Alibaba’s campus park, inspired by the Xixi Wetlands.
Image: Aspect Studios
“Xixi Campus-Park C” will target sustainable design outcomes, supporting China’s objectives to reach carbon-neutrality by 2060.
Aspect Studios’ Shanghai team will follow a “BioHabiNet” concept derived from evidenced-based design approaches, to achieve biodiversity, protected natural habitat, and sustainable water systems for the community to engage with the natural environment.
The new campus landscape will draw on the existing natural character of the site to create a “comfortable network” of natural spaces. The design will include rewilding initiatives through an extensive indigenous planting schedule; biophilic design principles that improve human wellbeing through engagement with the natural environment; passive cooling initiatives through wetland systems; and biodiversity restoration projects.
Local, recycled and sustainably produced materials will be used where possible to reduce the project’s impact and carbon footprint.
