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Architects: CCDI GROUP 21 Design Studio
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:TAL, Yilong Yan
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Lead Architect: Lang Wang, Yuming Li, Hao Wu
Project Overview - The circular city observation platform facing the sea is located in the coastal center of Nanshan District, Shenzhen. It is adjacent to the coastal activity lawn in the south, the public parking lot in the north, the intelligent fitness area for citizens in the east, and the landscape tree array and hard ground square in the west. It is set off in the coastal landscape belt of Shenzhen Bay Park about 13 kilometers long, with convenient transportation and a good coastal landscape. As a public building demolished and rebuilt at the original site, its basic functions include public toilets and shower rooms that are open to tourists in the park all day long. It is an improvement of public welfare design for the public toilets in Haifeng Sports Square of Shenzhen Bay Park and has served the surrounding citizens and visitors since May 1, 2023.
Analysis of the original state - ① The original public toilet building had a thick and heavy image, which was not compatible with the coastal landscape. ②Unreasonable functional streamline: Male and female toilets shared the same channel for entry and exit, making it inconvenient to use in parks with high pedestrian flow.③The internal walkway of the toilet was narrow, the facilities were rudimentary, and the hygiene facilities were insufficient. Among them, there were 8 male restroom slots and 6 urinal slots; 13 female toilet slots; There was no third bathroom or mother and-baby room. According to staff reports, there was a high flow of people in the park, and the phenomenon of long queues in women's toilets often occured.④Lack of humanistic care: Although the original building had partially elevated spaces, it did not provide any facilities and space for tourists, cleaning workers, or park staff to rest.
Design objectives - In response to the problems existing in the original public toilets, we propose several requirements for the new design: ① Combining the characteristics of the site and integrating the building into the environment. ② Based on the needs of tourists, increase toilet spaces and provide more services such as showers, third bathrooms, and mother and baby rooms. ③ Change the traditional impression of public toilets and provide citizens with a people-oriented resting place.
The Ring of Vitality - The project responds to the openness of the site with a circular ring, making it convenient for people entering from all directions to use the building and promoting a sense of closeness between the building and the environment. Surrounding the circular space, a men's restroom is arranged on the east side and a women's restroom is arranged on the west side, with the number of women's restroom slots increased to 22; On the east side of the landscape axis the shower function group, while on the west side of the landscape axis is the mother and baby room, third bathroom, sanitation worker lounge, and tool room function group. The circular corridor connects various functions to form a simple and effective layout. In addition to meeting basic toilet functions, it also creates a gray space for tourists to rest and wait, while integrating the building roof as a green space with the environment. On this basis, through changes in roof slope, tourists can climb up the stairs, listen to the wind, and view the sea.
Eave corridors and courtyards - The profound horizontal eaves form a 2.4-meter-wide circular corridor on the outer side of the circular ring, and the blank spaces between various functional groups form a framed landscape, creating a coherent and transparent gray space together. During peak toilet hours, people can queue around the circular corridor to avoid exposure to sunlight and rain. At the same time, the chairs growing from the wall under the eaves corridor facilitate people's rest and waiting. In their leisure time, they can sit and enjoy the surrounding scenery while blowing the sea breeze. The circular courtyard surrounded by the center has a diameter of about 18 meters and opens to a green lawn, forming a huge framed view of the sky, where blue sky, white clouds, green trees, and birds can be seen. The circular courtyard is also suitable for children to run and play, and the 1.2-meter-wide circular corridor on the inner side allows parents to watch out under the corridor, providing an open and easy-to-take care of activity space for children and parents.
Circular city observation platform in Shenzhen Bay - The wooden steps that climb up the stairs should be made as gentle as possible, which is beneficial for citizens to walk comfortably. Reeds are planted on both sides of the steps and observation platform, keeping people in a green atmosphere during the viewing. At the same time, green roofs provide a good "fifth facade" landscape for the city, effectively regulating the overall microclimate of the plot. The circular city observation deck facing the sea has become an excellent city observation spot for citizens to "view the sea from Jieshi to the east", and is a place for group photos and check-in; It also provides a natural urban stand for the grassland sports field on the seaside, providing a good starting point for the annual Spring Festival welcome run, without the need to build a temporary starting point; It provides a good public place for urban public activities such as music festivals.
Facade Materials - The design hopes that the building will disappear in the environment, rather than become the protagonist on the site. In terms of facade tone, natural and simple plain concrete is undoubtedly a good choice, allowing the building to blend in with the environment with a humble attitude. However, during the deepening process of the plan, considering the construction difficulty and cost control of the project, dry-hanging plain concrete slabs were used to replace it, which is also convenient for later maintenance and upkeep. In the men's and women's restrooms, the hand washing area and high windows are decorated with wooden louvers to ensure natural ventilation and to a certain extent block the view. At the same time, the wooden color can also add a touch of familiarity to the gray plain concrete.
Evaluation and Reflection - Transforming passive traditional public toilets into active urban public spaces, providing citizens with a people-oriented resting place, the new building has achieved the initial design concept. After the building was officially put into use and combined with the on-site usage situation, we found several issues that need to be reflected on and improved: ① seats can be appropriately added to the eaves gallery and roof platform of the inner courtyard to facilitate citizens' rest and observation; ② At the beginning of the design, the treatment of the roof was more in accordance with the needs of the body, without setting up ramps. It was found that some parents were pushing strollers to the roof observation platform, and in the later stage, ramps should be added on the steps to facilitate parents or disabled people with babies to reach the top; ③ In order to create a sense of floating, the height of the protruding seat is 600, which is not convenient for children to use in terms of scale; ④ Roof greening did not adopt drip irrigation according to the design, which is inconvenient for later maintenance; ⑤ The internal and external drainage ditches on the roof are not protected on the ground, making it easy for children to play on them, posing a safety hazard.
Conclusion - Watching the sea with the wind, spring flowers bloom. The circular urban observation deck integrates into the park environment, changing the traditional impression of public toilets, providing citizens with a humanized resting place, and also providing citizens with an excellent sea view resort. At the same time, it provides a natural urban stand for the sports ground and lawn on the south side of Haifeng Sports Square. Thank you to everyone involved in this public welfare project for their selfless help and strong investment, regardless of gain or loss.
