Half Moon Bay.

Location: Anhui Province

The Half Moon Bay project is situated on a 14ha site along the Xin An river in Huangshan. It will provide a total of 500 Apartments, 70 Courtyard Villas, a 16,000m² Office Tower, 9 SOHO Towers, a commercial village and a wide variety of tenant facilities including a large wellness centre with pools, gyms and dance studios.

Special attention was paid to the spatial variety within the project, fluently transitioning from high rise living to village scale typologies. All program components are connected by an abundance of waterfront parks.

The first setting of the design was to carve a central stream throughout the entire site. Maximising waterfront property while creating a habitat for flora and fauna and connecting the project to a recreational park upstream, and a wetland park downstream. These wetlands are part of a “Sponge City” concept, mitigating grey water and storm water runoffs on site.

The integration of public and private spaces is fluent in a public private partnership between the city and the developer. The public waterfront promenade with its central square and the northern and southern parks will be provided by the client on public land.

With its focus on spatial qualities and public green zones, the project will set new standards for real estate developments in Huangshan, while aesthetically being routed in the architectural vernacular of the Anhui province; signature white buildings with accentuations of black roofs and fine detailing.

The SpineThe first design decision was to establish a central landscape feature, a stream running like a spine through the development. The shape of this stream is in­spired by traditional ink stone carvings, which often depict waved shorelines and beautiful coves and bays.

The stream will maximize oppor­tunities for waterfront proper­ties, create recreational spaces, improve ventilation, and special plant selection will contribute to enhance the water quality and provide habitat for fish and birds.

Commercial Zones - Retail / art galleries / sailing club / soho apartmentsThe planning requirements ask for 10% Commer­cial space within the development. We placed these functions at the northern end of the property to allow for a clear separation between a residential gated community and public accessible commercial space.

The commercial functions are located at both sides of the central stream. On the east side 3 Towers of 16 to 18 stories can serve as office towers or SOHO units. They have a combined podium with the op­portunity for retail, medical and community service functions as well as a larger supermarket, which could extend into the basement.

On the west side we propose a “village”. A cluster of smaller buildings with narrow alleyways supporting cafes, restaurants, specialty retail and art galleries.

To the north the buildings overlook the proposed wetland park. At the east side a New Zealand Sail­ing school provides access to the river and compli­ments this community centre.