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Architects: 11architecture
- Area: 450 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Siming Wu
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Lead Architect: Jing Xie, Fujimori Ryo
Background
This project was carried out under the "2021 Nanshan Co-build Gardens Program" jointly initiated by Shenzhen Green Foundation, Shekou Community Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy, led by Nanshan Urban Management And Law Enforcement Bureau. Most of the gardens under the program are on the ground floor facing streets, but our site is on the roof of a 6-storey apartment in an urban village. We see three major difficulties in this project. The first, the open roof is separated from the urban traffic network, which is good for creating a relaxing space where time flows slowly like an "oasis in the city", but the isolation from the ground also makes it difficult to create a community space where people naturally gather. The second, the initial budget for the project is only enough to build a small garden of less than 150-square-meter, which is too small to be an independent space attracting the community. The third, due to the strong sunlight on the exposed roof in Shenzhen during the day, a sunshade canopy is necessary in order to allow people to stay comfortably, but it is difficult to obtain building permission for the canopy from the urban management department. With these difficulties, we began to think about how to make this roof a new community place where people would like to gather.
"Green Roof (low carbon)" and "Co-build Garden (community activities)"
The joint organizations have a series of working philosophy at their back such as revitalizing community activities, promoting nature education and achieving a sustainable society, and exploring a world that coexists with nature. Climate warming is a serious problem faced by mankind on a global scale, and all countries are making many efforts to achieve sustainable development. "Green roof" is an effective means to alleviate the urban heat island effect and an important measure to build a low-carbon city. Through this project, we proposed an implementation model of "green roof". It should be simple in planning, economical, beautiful, functional, and easy to be replicated on roofs of other buildings. Speaking of "co-build" in this project, in addition to the participation of neighbors, we also adopted a progressive strategy: "multiple organizations that support the project concept jointly provide funding, materials and sites, as well as participate in part of the operation". By combining the two concepts of "green roof" and "co-build garden", it can solve many practical problems, and a new type of roof space could be derived.
Overview of Co-build
As the available roof space at the Boonself Apartments was large, we proposed a slightly bigger plan that went a step further in addressing environmental and community issues. In the end, five organizations supported the proposal, provided funding, materials and a site, and finally realized a project of 450-square-meter roof garden, including a partially shaded event plaza, and surrounding flower beds and a community farm.
1. Sino-Ocean Group, a state-owned enterprise, provided the roof site of the Boonself Apartment for free, and renovated the original outer fence to a safe height.
2. The project budget from the "2021 Nanshan Co-build Gardens Program" was used for overall paint, frame construction of the sunshade canopy, and flower beds.
3. Shenzhen New Energy Association and its member units were responsible for the structural design of the canopy, and providing and installing solar panels and its related system. They are collecting their investments through the power generation. An important reason why the construction of new canopy had been approved by the urban management department was because of the solar energy system that could help to achieve a low-carbon city.
4. American Polar Airlines contributed to urban environmental protection and greening, and invested in the construction of the community farm.
5. We, 11ARCHITECTURE, also aimed at contributing to the society. We were responsible for the strategy formulation of the project and the design of the entire space, and advance funds for some of the short budget.
Space Design
In order to be easily replicated on other roofs, we proposed a design strategy of a basic module unit; we can flexibly arrange module units to deal with different conditions of any sites. The basic structural unit has the size of 2.1m x 2.1m x 2.7m(height), which is determined by the size of two standard solar panels on the canopy. In the center of the site is a large shading canopy of 6.3m x 10.5m consisting of 15 module units. We used its structural columns to carry three types of activity devices: a suspended net bed with 2 module units, a 6.3m long table with 3 module units, and a timber yoga deck with 4 module units. By adjusting the size of the structural unit, we designed a slightly larger canopy of 3.3m x 3.3m x 4.0m(height) as a lighthouse, the top of which was placed by four standard solar panels. When the lights are turned on at night, it can be seen from the surroundings.
In the design process, we had a meeting with the co-build team and discussed the final budget, construction scale, and specific uses of the event space. After this meeting, the size of shading canopy was reduced, and the gathering plaza was enlarged. The design made up of module units provided flexibility to respond to changing conditions. We also organized a workshop inviting young neighbors and exploring the possibilities of activity devices in the module unit. The design of flower beds and the community farm also incorporated the idea of the basic unit, using a standard logistics plastic box, and 708 units were used in total. The ideal planter box should be made of environmentally friendly material, but it was not realized due to time and budget constraints. The advantages of the logistic plastic box are that it is economical, lightweight, strong, waterproof and durable. Because of the structural strength, the box can be stacked. In the design of the flower bed, the boxes were stacked in 3 layers and created a terraced form. We also turned the box into a bench by installing a timber board on top. The extensive use of the boxes may give people an impression of logistic warehouse, and we selected our original color of light green suitable for the roof garden breaking off the visual link to the ready-made logistic boxes. We also involved in plants selection and logo design. Those plants with small flowers and leaves swaying in the wind were selected, in order to create a space that people feel the softness while taking a leisurely walk. The softness in shapes and colors were also considered in the logo design as it would soften the rigidness comes from the repetitive module units all over the site. The name "Green Cloud Garden" was also born in this design process.
Community Activities
"Green Cloud Garden" is a public space. It is open to the public during the day, and people after registering at the front desk can freely go up to the roof. But it is not realistic for local neighbors to spontaneously come up to the hidden rooftop garden and generate a community. And it is necessary to create a series of purposes to attract people to come up.
1. We created a rental farm, where people could rent a "private field" of about 1㎡ consisting of 4 planting boxes. The Boonself Apartment is responsible for the basic management and maintenance. Young residents from the Boonself Apartments, housewives and old people living nearby who are interested in agriculture can join the farming community.
2. American Polar Airlines took a row of "private field" of about 7-square-meter as a company field, and planning to hold a seasonal activities of vegetable seedling and hot pot parties with their harvested vegetables.
3. This roof garden is also rented out as an event space for various groups. The 6.3m long table and the yoga deck can host events for 20 to 30 people. Even more people can be accommodated if the entire venue with the activity plaza is included.
4. Nanshan Street Work Committee and RE-LOOK Studio will cooperate with Boonself Apartment and hold community activities for young people once or twice a month using this venue. A few days before the official opening of "Green Cloud Garden", we held a flower planting activity with volunteers and young neighbors.
5. Shenzhen New Energy Association took this venue as a model case of “an urban community with solar energy culture”, and planning to launch a series of research activities on site.
6. In the early design stage, we envisaged putting a sipping container on the roof and opening a community coffee shop. That did not realized, but it is possible to install a drink vending machine instead to serve events on weekends and residents and neighbors on weekdays. The Boonself Apartments has 300 flats, the residents who come back from the work could grab a drink and relax at the roof garden.
In a high-density metropolis like Shenzhen, a rooftop space open to the public has multiple potential values. If designed properly, it can be an attractive space for walking and activities, and will also be a place to nurture a community. And by running it properly, the construction investment can be recouped over a period of time. "LOHAS" is the abbreviation of "Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability", which is a new urban life value emerging around the world. In the era of environmental destruction and the spread of infectious diseases, many urban dwellers have begun to seek a new lifestyle, that is different from the previous consumption era, paying attention to the health as a mankind in relation to environmental protection as well as the individual’s physical and mental health. They are interested in sustainable development and community activities. This project is a new type of community space created by the combination of two concepts: "Green Roof (low carbon)" and "Co-build Garden (community Activities)". It is an experimental project.
