This presentation covers the landscape architecture design of 'OCT OH BAY retail park' - waterfront retail park, urban business center, and waterfront cultural park.

1. LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECTURE
KAVYA RAVI

2. OCT OH BAY Retail Park
PUBLIC SPACE, COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE, URBAN & LAND USE PLANNING
•
SHENZHEN, CHINA
Architects: Laguarda Low Architects
Area: 430000 m²
Year: 2021
Lead Architect: Pablo Laguarda / FAIA
Landscape Design: SWA & AUBE
Lighting Design: Light Cibles

3. Laguarda . Low Architects' concept
for the 128-acre park is a
representation of growth, joining
commerce with world-class cultural
facilities.
Located along with a three-quarter-
mile waterfront site, the program
features four primary zones — East
and West Waterfront Retail Park;
Urban Business Center; and
Waterfront Cultural Park.
Woven throughout this collective of
mixed-uses is an ecological blanket
– a flowing natural landscape that
envelopes the site, connecting the
zones via pedestrian paths.

4. The West Waterfront Retail Park
includes entertainment venues,
leisure facilities, and a performing
arts center all emanating from an
expansive open-air plaza.
Water serves as a key element of the
scheme, separating various aquatic
activities while allowing the public
to explore the waterfront by boat.
On the East bank, a four-story
experiential retail park is linked by
gently sloping ramps, escalators, and
bridges layered beneath an
expansive green roof ribbon.
The traditional shopping
experience is transformed with an
abundance of natural light and
choreographed circulation.

5. EAST WATERFRONT
RETAIL PARK
The 35,000 m2 RETAIL PARK
consists of multiple pebble-
shaped three-story volumes
arranged organically along an
elaborate waterfront park, facing
south.
These organic forms harmonize
with nature on one side while
multiple penetrations along the
north side address the urban
context.
The porous nature of the project
naturally draws visitors from the
waterfront into the open-air
retail environment, integrating
shopping, food, and beverage
venues seamlessly with nature.

6. An urban business center
composed of terraced office
buildings and hotel, serves as a
backdrop to the harbor, with green
roofs set to collect rainwater and
limit solar heat gain.
With 1.5 million square feet of
mixed-use expansion in the heart
of Bao’ an, OCT OH BAY sets a
precedent for future development
in Shenzhen.
The streamlined, curvilinear nature
of the project and public gathering
space are unifying themes, melding
the needs of a commercially viable
program and burgeoning cultural
district at an extraordinary scale.

7. The second and third floor volumes
are stacked slightly off-kilter,
shifting, and tilting as they rise
above the ground plane.
This movement creates sheltering
overhangs dynamic terraces with
breathtaking views beyond the
waterfront park to the ocean.
The boundary between building and
nature, commercial space, and
parkland, is completely blurred,
allowing for unprecedented
integration of retail development
and a natural landscape.
The shifting volumes and extensive
green roofs funnel breezes
throughout the site and provide
shade and respite from the summer
heat.

8. Located in the center of the lower-level retail is a 50-
meter-wide sunken plaza.This celebration space will
accommodate diverse events, exhibitions, and impromptu
social gatherings.
It is the culmination point for public access from the
subway station in the northeast and the gateway to the
waterfront park through a cascading water garden.
Gently undulated green roofs, as mentioned above, tie all
volumes of the development together, creating a unique
setting adjacent to and above the waterfront park.
From these roofs, visitors have spectacular views of the
ocean beyond.
The roof garden terrain has a diverse landscape that
includes a flower garden, a cascading sculpture garden, an
outdoor performance terrace, and an undulating running
trail.
The undulating running trail floats above the retail
circulation and gives exercise enthusiasts a thrilling
experience with 360-degree views from the ocean to the
city and beyond.

9. Two landscaped gentle pedestrian
ramps rise from either end of the
project, east, and west, to create
three-dimensional paths for
visitors from the public park to
every level of the commercial
zone including the green roof
garden.
This vertical pedestrian access
conjoins gentle ramps, stairs, and
rest zones with trees, flowers, and
art installations.

10. The ecological green belt that runs through the retail
blocks on the east and west banks introduces water
features and green plants into the commercial space, the
landscape and the architecture are naturally integrated.
Along with awnings, green balconies, and ecological
roofs to form air ducts and cold lanes, which greatly
reduces the urban heat island effect.
The retail streets maximize natural lighting through
skylights and patios and use solar systems to
continuously obtain energy.
The orientation of the buildings caters to the demand
for natural ventilation.
The streamlined shape and vertical patio are designed to
enhance wind pressure and thermal pressure ventilation.
High ceilings, openable windows, and high-energy low-
speed fans are used to optimize indoor air circulation.