Beixing Resort Development, Guangdong, P.R. China
The Beixing Housing Development project is part of a masterplan for a vacation house development near Guangzhou. The design for five speculative houses gardens and landscapes is located in the hills north of Beixing in close proximity to two lakes. The house sites are located around a small inlet on the upper lake. The brief for the houses called for three pavilions on the northern side of the inlet, with a family house to the west and a large mansion on the southern side of the inlet.
GIS maps were generated which detailed overland water flow paths, aspect, and slope analysis. These maps were used to build a diagram to locate garden streams and determine building sites to ensure minimal site disturbance. Overland flow paths were excavated then backfilled with crushed granite. The new streambeds both direct torrential rainfall and retard and dissipate monsoon flow. The garden and house sites are located between the streams. Gardens are planted with indigenous Chinese trees and shrubs, bamboo, rhododendron, magnolia,
and Michelia species, their location determined by the site aspect maps. Paths run down the site through the gardens, as well as across the site, linking house sites with garden and reserves. The result is a ‘striped’ territory with streams, gardens, and house sites alternating across the development.
GIS maps were generated which detailed overland water flow paths, aspect, and slope analysis. These maps were used to build a diagram to locate garden streams and determine building sites to ensure minimal site disturbance. Overland flow paths were excavated then backfilled with crushed granite. The new streambeds both direct torrential rainfall and retard and dissipate monsoon flow. The garden and house sites are located between the streams. Gardens are planted with indigenous Chinese trees and shrubs, bamboo, rhododendron, magnolia,
and Michelia species, their location determined by the site aspect maps. Paths run down the site through the gardens, as well as across the site, linking house sites with garden and reserves. The result is a ‘striped’ territory with streams, gardens, and house sites alternating across the development.