Recalling Traditional Garden Retreats
{"autoplay":"true","autoplay_speed":"3000","speed":"300","arrows":"true","dots":"false","loop":"true","nav_slide_column":5,"rtl":"false"}

DETAILS

Location, Xi'an China

Thomas Balsley Associates was invited to design one of six hotel villa sites near the ancient city of Xi’an. Collaborating with Joel Sanders Architect, the design draws inspiration from the lifestyle and design principles of traditional Chinese gardens. Like these ancient private retreats, this hotel site is also organized around a series of landscaped courtyards, where occupants can escape for relaxation, rejuvenation and contemplation. Homage is paid to the essence of traditional Chinese garden design that conceives of each complex as a unique constructed composition that blend architecture and landscape, organic and inorganic materials, art and nature. A layered series of architectural and landscape “shelves” respond to the Loess plain theme outlined in the master plan. The concept reinterprets traditional garden elements: the faceted hotel villas emerging out of the ground plane recall ancient scholar rocks featured prominently in traditional courtyards, garden ponds become water remediation tanks used for spa pools and to water vegetation, and traditional ornate scrim panels have a modern interpretation through the use of perforated metal.

Additionally, the design also takes cues from the surrounding agricultural context, employing environmentally responsible principles to create an eco-spa resort. An expansive green roof with sweeping drifts of native plants will regulate building temperatures in a sustainable way while also minimizing run-off. This ecological green roof also allows for wildlife habitat to be viewed by hotel guests. The large pool areas in the sunken landscape are imagined to be ‘natural’ pools – using vegetation around the base of the villa towers to environmentally cleanse and filter the water without the use of chemicals, and create a social filter in which private space is delicately screened from semi-public space.

Alipay Headquarters

The new the Hangzhou Alipay Headquarters is located between the Xi Xi wetlands and downtown Hangzhou, a city renowned for its rich culture and beautiful landscapes. Hills and small mountains surround the headquarters building in three directions, and in the fourth lies downtown Hangzhou. Three landscape “movements” derived from openings in the building direct ...

Lite-On Headquarters

This major Taiwanese electronics company chose the “Electronics Center” of Taipei overlooking the Gee Long River for their new headquarters. The overall concept is of a 25-story slender tower rising above a sloped landscape podium that covers much of the site. Below-grade parking slopes toward the river on one side, with the urban center on the oth...

Burj Khalifa

Playing on the theme of “A Tower in a Park,” this shaded landscape creates a compelling oasis of green, with distinct areas to serve the tower’s hotel, residential, spa and corporate office areas. The visitor begins at the main arrival court at the base of the tower, where the “prow” of the building intersects a grand circular court—a “water room” defined by f...

Ballpark Village 200

SWA/Balsley has been contracted for full district-wide landscape services for this exciting new urban redevelopment, located directly across the street from Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.

This downtown revitalization effort includes creating an iconic, unified district identity, strengthening pedestrian connection to the d...

2020-01-08T23:53:10+00:00