China National Botanical Garden

Location

Beijing, China, Asia

Status

Active

Experience

Cultural

Gardens

Masterplanning

WilkinsonEyre won the competition to design a 11,500 sqm conservatory for the China National Botanical Garden, a 400 hectares botanical garden situated in the north-western outskirts of Beijing.

The new conservatory houses plant species from the Tropics, American Desert, South Africa, Australia, Mediterranean, and the Alpine – each requiring a different climatic environment, carefully designed along a continuous 500m route comprising a varied and exciting experience within each climatic zone.

Interior render of China National Botanical Gardens

Aerial render of China National Botanical Gardens

The proposed undulating gridshell structure is clad with a combination of glass and ETFE cushions, maximising the benefits of both materials to provide a suitable environment for plant growth and visitor experience all year round.

The landscape around the new conservatory is re-designed, featuring new event spaces and play spaces, to allow the other existing conservatories to be grouped together as a cluster that would form a new focal attraction within the wider gardens. A new footbridge is proposed to connect the existing conservatory to the new entrance plaza, negotiating the level differences on site.

Design Development

Gardens by the Bay

The project, comprising three separate gardens covering a total of 101 hectares, was central to the government’s visionary plan to transform the city-state into a city-in-a-garden.

Sentosa Brani Masterplan

WilkinsonEyre was part of a team for a major masterplan to reinvent the Singaporean islands of Sentosa and Pulau Brani as a global leisure and recreation destination set within a biodiverse tropical landscape.

Sino Singaporean Friendship Park

WilkinsonEyre was part of the winning team led by Grant Associates, for the masterplan of the Sino-Singaporean Friendship Park and the architectural design of the conservatories.