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The Crystal // The Conservatory @ Raffles City Chongqing
Discipline : Urban Design, Landscape Architecture & Landscaping
Categories : Landscape Architecture / Commercial Landscape Architecture : Platinum Winner
Categories : Special Awards / Innovative Idea : Bronze Certification
The largest indoor sky garden in the world, “The Crystal” is divided into three operating zones: InterContinental’s Hotel and Dining facilities, the Club Pool, and National Geographic’s Observation Deck. WAA’s team procured each of The Crystal’s 120+ mature trees to respond to the unique function – and micro-climate – of each space: clean, odorless, light-filtering Ilex Rotunda for the hotel lobby and its restaurants; tall, permeable Terminalia and Jacaranda to emphasize the skyline views from the Observation Deck; and a lush selection of semi-tropical palms, ferns and Ficuses for the Club Pool, inspired by Chongqing’s famous hot springs. The planting character of The Crystal was designed to celebrate Chongqing’s rich natural environment, using plants sourced from elsewhere that would thrive within its climate-regulated interior.
Plants were procured from across southern China and placed within a local shelter for 12 months, allowing them to acclimate to indoor growing conditions as well as Chongqing’s severely overcast climate. An innovative tree-replacement strategy was implemented by planting additional mature trees in “on-site nurseries” – small patches of mixed species integrated into the design of each space – to be used as replacements for notable specimens. These “nurseries” would be replenished with smaller trees, hoisted through the structure’s hull from the podium park 250m below, ensuring that the lifecycle – and legacy – of this suspended Conservatory endures.
Collaboration
Landscape Architecture : WAA +
Architecte designer : Safdie Architects
Architecte exécutif : Palmer & Turner
Ingénieur du génie civil : ARUP
Ingénierie mécanique : Parsons BrinkerhoffWSP
Designer d'intérieur (Hôtel & Club Pool ) : CL3 Architects
Designer d'intérieur (Restauration toute la journée) : INdulge
Designer d'intérieur (Restauration spécialisée) : Wilson Associates
Restauration spécialisée : C’est la Vie
Opérations : Intercontinental Hotels
Designer d'intérieur (Pont d'observation) : Gallagher & Associates
Pont d'observation : National Geographic
Consultant en façades : ALT
Club Pool : CapitaLand
