Sanlitun West 5th Street No.5 Campus – Jigsaw Garden

Project backgroud

Campus of West 5th Street, Sanlitun, is nestled within the Second Embassy District. Strategically connecting Sanlitun Taikoo Li and Liangma river, it serves not only as a public space node between two vibrant urban hubs but also as a commercial service hub in the area. As a open space in the core of the embassy district, the designers aim to integrate nature and art into the office park, creating a “Garden Green Core” infused with humanistic spirit and fostering an open, shared international community. landscape renovation, as the pioneer of the entire campus transformation, revitalizes the site, gradually developing an open and diverse urban garden district combining commercial and office functions.

The campus features a layout where the southwest zone is primarily for retail and F&B, while the northeast zone is mainly for office. The landscape renovation integrates building functions and site atmosphere, dividing the public space into various types of characteristic garden and plazas, creating continuous internal green pedestrian corridors, and developing outward-facing street and pedestrian. In the long term, the building facades and business formats will be integrated to achieve a complete vision of an open and organic district.

Design strategy

The design begins with a subtraction approach: clearing redundant shrubs to reveal the natural forms of magnolias, Chinese crabapples, ginkgoes, and cypresses, creating a spatial transparency.  Then an addition strategy is employed to introducing pedestrian paths and activity spaces beneath the trees canopy to craft vibrant shared gardens. The reclaimed recreational areas formed virtuous natural landscapes, enhancing leisure, as well as commercial and cultural vitality of the campus.

The concept for the overall spatial elements inspired by the blooming of magnolias in the courtyard. A series of petal-shaped pavements are created. With “flowers” paving the path, the use of gaps and jigsaw patterns integrates the breath of the space for plants. This brings vitality to the paved surface, reflecting the life force of vegetation into the site.

South entry central garden

Adjacent to Sanlitun West 5th Street, central garden serves as the “living room” of the campus. The renovation connects the two green spaces on either side as one maximized landscape lawn area. Large “magnolia petal”-shaped white precast concrete blocks function both as pathways and plazas, flexibly scattered like “puzzle pieces” throughout the green space. The strategy not only allows flexible avoidance of existing trees and manhole but also creates a relaxed and lively garden atmosphere.

The spatial layout draws inspiration from the linear classical gardens, petal-shaped precast concreate form the garden creating an abstract fallen flowers floating on the lawn. Sculptural planters, scenery walls, wave-inspired seating walls, flower-adorned platforms, and pavilions metaphorically reflect the site’s cultural context of blossoms. The “waved pedal” seating walls, combined with the site’s pavement patterns, create a garden ambiance where those “white petals” seem to have gently fallen into ground nature.