Landscape Architecture, Urban Design & Master Planning

Projects

Tainan Metropolitan Park

R/Hdo lead the team in winning this International design competition for a new 100 acre regional park located in the City of Tainan, Taiwan. The park will be the new home for the Chi Mei Company Museum as well as a major recreation facility for the Tainan region. The park concept sited the European themed museum building on a peninsula within the park. The lake separating the museum from the remaining park area provides a dramatic foreground for the museum building, separates the museum use from the other more active park uses, and provides required storm water management.

The Master Plan divides the park into four zones; (1) the Active Body Zone, (2) The Fault zone, (3) the Culture and Learning Zone, and (4) the Peace and Reflection Zone. Each zone has a major function and distinct landscape character. All of the zones are interconnected by trails and are all meant to be enjoyed when guests come to the Park.

The Active Body Zone provides activities for children and adults to focus on exercise and active play. The area has been graded to emphasize the elevation and all areas of the zone have commanding views of the park and landscape beyond. Major uses within the zone include a 500 SM Restaurant/wedding hall, a 1300 SM Sports Club with indoor and outdoor facilities, an adventure playground, an outdoor tennis center, and major parking lot serving the Museum and the entire Park.

A Sports Center provided indoor recreation including basketball courts, handball, exercise and weight lifting rooms and a spa for the rejuvenation of the mind and body. Outdoor night lighted tennis and handball courts would also be provided.

An Adventure Playground will provide a large scale interactive play environment for children. The activities include a 30 meter man made tree and tree house, a interactive maze that changes throughout the day, a play stream and the worlds largest sandcastle, and a variety of futuristic play structures for children of all age groups.

The Fault zone provides a learning opportunity to interpret and explain geology, faults and earthquakes. The fault line runs through this zone and has affected the layout of the park and the arrangement of the buildings. The main feature of the Fault Zone is a six to tem meter high escarpment which runs the entire length of the park and a 200 meter long man made stream running along the escarpment base. The Fault Zone also includes an outdoor performance venue, a tower overlook, and trails located along the bluff top and the stream.

The escarpment will provide a unique viewing feature that allows the park to “stand out” in the relatively flat landscape of the region. The sloped area between the top of the escarpment and the stream will be planted as different ecosystems of Taiwan . This will (1) include a lawn and flower slope on the hillside greeting visitors at the main entrance, (2) Savanna high grasses and low density trees in the stream’s middle section, and (3) a tropical monsoon forest in the western section.

Located at the top of the escarpment, adjacent to the parking lot, is a viewing tower. The tower can serve as the icon for the park and from its highest point offer dramatic views of the surrounding landscape and the airport landing zone located to the west. The five meter wide bluff top trail connects the parking lot with all of the major uses in the Sports Zone. It is located immediately adjacent to the escarpment edge and will from all areas will over visitors dramatic views of the park below. The stream will be designed to interpret the regions geology, the cycle of water, and the erosion process. The stream source starts at the weeping wall with a play fountain that recreates the visual and acoustic affects of falling rain. The water falls to a plaza area and into tributaries that join into the central stream. The stream, varying in width from two to five meters, meanders along the base of the escarpment providing differing interpretive and play opportunities.

The outdoor performance venue, designed into the natural landform of the escarpment, will be able to accommodate 7500 users in seating and overflow lawn areas. Moveable roof structures, shaped like the leaf of the ginkgo tree, will provide year round weather protection.

This zone provides passive recreation and opportunities to improve the mind. Edutainment opportunities to learn and recreate will be offered with cutting edge displays of art, and plant life. The Culture and Learning Zone includes the two major buildings to be located in the park, the Chi Mei Museum and the Conservatory. Museum guests can visit the Museum without having to enter into the park proper. The Museum will share a park entry designed in a formal arrangement, but treated with whimsical land forms and plantings. Upon entering guests can proceed directly to a parking area to be used exclusively by Museum patrons. Formal European style gardens would create an important image of the Museum facing west to XX Road . Adequate area has been provided for future Museum expansion to the east. This area would be used temporarily as strolling gardens and then ultimately for the expansion of the building. Physical and visual connections to the main park are an obvious feature of this site and should be dramatized in the buildings design.

The Peace and Reflection Zone provides primarily passive recreation activities. A XX SM lake is the primary visual feature of the zone. The lake provides for recreation opportunities including paddle boating, remote control boating, and pleasure walking. In addition the zone provides a special wetlands water purification interpretation area and a heavily planted forest buffer to protect the park from noise from the Highway .

The lake would be designed to detain heavy rainstorms. The lake bottom and edge has been designed to reveal sculptures when the water level recedes during the dry season. These features would be interpretative and discuss the rain cycle.

Location: City of Tainan, Taiwan

Role: Landscape Architect & Master Planner

Architect: COSMOS

Owner: Tainan City Parks Department

Budget: $10,000,000/Phase 1

Date of Completion: 2007