Situated in a dense urban area, the Lam Wah Street Playground is a precious breathing space in the city. The project is to induce tranquility by creating a landscape garden, while providing vigorous spaces for different activities. It introduces an urban village garden that brings in a sense of community with a touch of oasis in the midst of the dense industrial areas.
The concept of village garden is expressed as an abstract composition in the idea of planes to define different varieties of outdoor rooms. Spaces with different characteristics are defined by building blocks and outdoor interventions, including screen walls and garden hedges, that worked together to provide a comfortable sense of scale within the high-rise environment. Multiple layers of space can be experienced as a journey of discovery from public to private, from open space, semi-open space to enclosed area, as an interpretation of village and garden.
The garden is designed for play and other multi-purpose activities. Timber trellis and glass block wall form pavilions and verandas, embodying the landscape and play space while screening off the busy traffic and industrialized streetscape. It frames and un-frames, creating architecture as an urban village, a setting for different festivities to occur.
The use of textured walls from concrete, corten steel and copper, cast a reminiscence of the past industrial age, accompanying with the design of thematic planting with seasonal blossom, help to signify the coming of spring. Layers of greeneries and architectural elements are closely knitted together to form permeable living spaces within the park, provide a green oasis for relaxation and exploration, as well as encourage the community’s active and passive engagement with nature amidst the dense city fabric.
View Original