Innovative Public Space Design in China: The Floating Courtyard Renovation

The Floating Courtyard, a transformative renovation project in Suzhou's Science and Technology City, exemplifies the future of innovative public space design in China. Orchestrated by Deep Origin Lab, this project redefines the entrance plaza of an underground parking lot, integrating it seamlessly into the urban fabric of Fashion Waterfront Longfor Starry Street.

Conceptualizing The Floating Courtyard

A Vision for Urban Connectivity

Deep Origin Lab's vision was to bridge spatial relationships within the urban environment through a design that balances openness with intimate spaces. By employing strategies of "Contexture" and "Patch", the renovation enhances the landscape from the ground up, creating an experiential place that transcends traditional public space design in China.

The Olive-Shaped Plaza

The unique olive-shaped geometry of the original sunken plaza presented both a challenge and an opportunity. The design team's innovative approach extended the existing stairway and divided the open interface of the parking lot into three distinct doorways, each leading to the plaza's new centerpiece: the floating courtyard.

Structural Innovation and Aesthetic Integration

The Jellyfish Canopy

Dominating the plaza is a translucent fabric membrane structure, floating above like a jellyfish, with a suspended landscape garden nestled beneath. This membrane serves multiple functions: it acts as a canopy, creating a sense of enclosure while allowing glimpses of the sky, guides pedestrian flow, and connects key outdoor nodes. The design cleverly minimizes structural intrusion, with steel columns emerging from the original concrete bases to support this delicate balance of suspension and support.

The Landscape Garden: A Continuous Surface Layer

As part of the "patch repair" approach, the landscape garden unifies the plaza space, merging the upper and lower layers into a cohesive landscape form. Planting beds, railings, and cave-like window shapes interact to form discrete gardens, defining the plaza's activity areas while offering multiple scenic views. This innovative public space design in China demonstrates how functional elements can become integral components of the aesthetic and experiential landscape.

Illumination and Interaction

An Immersive Lighting Atmosphere

The facade, constructed from wood-textured translucent glass, and the terrazzo surface transform under the night sky, creating a spectacle of light and shadow. Integrated lighting within the planting beds and column lights turn the membrane surface into a canvas for illumination, fostering an immersive and interactive lighting environment. This interplay of light erases material boundaries, casting the underground entrance plaza as a luminous stage in the urban nightscape.

Setting New Benchmarks for Public Spaces

The Floating Courtyard project by Deep Origin Lab sets a new benchmark for innovative public space design in China. Through architectural ingenuity and a commitment to creating engaging, functional environments, this renovation challenges conventional notions of what urban spaces can be. As cities evolve, projects like The Floating Courtyard pave the way for future innovations in public space design, blending form, function, and beauty into the fabric of urban life.

All the photographs are work of Dong Image, Hao Chen,  Qinrong Liu