INTERNATIONAL
GUI’AN INNOVATION PARK, GUIZHOU
GUI’AN INNOVATION
PARK, GUIZHOU
Wilder Associates’ Gui’an Innovation Park in Guizhou, China, dubbed a ‘Sponge City’, demonstrates new approaches to
surface water management. ALESSANDRO CARRARA spoke with director Peter Wilder to find out more about this project and
how it has improved the local area
T that prevent runoff from roads entering
into the watercourse.
What would you say was your main
goal with the landscape scheme?
Our main goal was to integrate the
remnants of tea plantation terraces
into the masterplan so that the historic
landform could be preserved as a
reminder of its past use. We integrated
them as a series of bio-filtration regimes Do you think you achieved your main
goal?
In terms of the design of the water
management system I would say yes we
did. But in terms of achieving a platform
for research, development and innovation
I would say not really. However, from our
perspective the most important thing was
to build a sponge city, a site that behaves
very much like a sponge that absorbs
water runoff and treated water run off.
Part of the reason why this site was chosen
is that it took on a limestone cast geology.
What that means is that any water
that falls on the ground goes straight into
the water aquifer. So if it gets polluted
ell me about the brief for the
project?
Our brief was to develop a model for
a Sponge City that would serve as an
exemplar for other designers to follow.
The park should also be an exemplar for
sustainable construction, energy waster
and surface water treatment along with
the integration of local skills and crafts
into the park.
it will take that pollutant right into the
drinking water effectively. So we had to
demonstrate that even on a difficult site
like that, we could achieve a system that
filtered and cleaned up the surface water
run-off before it got into the ground.
How were you commissioned to work
on the project?
We were originally brought in as
environmental consultants to the Building
Research Establishment (BRE) but were
retained as part of the design team to take
the scheme forward to construction.
Who was the client and how was it
working with them?
Our client was BRE China but our
ultimate client was the mayor of Gui’an
November 2018 | Landscape Insight
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