ˌtaɪ.kuː ˈpleɪs / TIE-koo place

Gustafson Porter + Bowman

Client: Swire Properties Limited

Taikoo Place, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent business hubs, features a public open space with lush native vegetation and sculptural water features as part of a major urban transformation project around two new high specification office towers.

Our 2.3ha landscape masterplan vision, its design and attention to detail, has significantly enhanced the public realm and overall experience for office workers and wider community. It consists of a sequence of gardens and squares ranging from small intimate places around water to gather with friends and colleagues, to active street promenades suitable for cultural events, concerts and outdoor markets. Taikoo Square creates a series of terraces and is defined by two large longitudinal pools connected by a cascade and a small water table that references the history of Quarry Bay as a working dock. Taikoo Gardens is a calm and quiet space featuring an interactive water table for contemplation and relaxation. Feng Shui woodlands are remnants of native woodlands which were protected from agricultural clearance due to their spiritual significance. At Taikoo Place, these remnant species have found a new home and are re-introducing biodiversity by creating structural diversity within the planting. This was achieved by underplanting trees with open shrubs, ferns, grasses and perennials, creating a layered vegetation character to encourage flowering and set seeds or bear berries for wildlife. Most of the trees planted are native species grown in a specialist nursery. The lighting was designed specifically to minimize disturbance to wildlife. Universal access is provided through the linearity of the spaces which are accentuated through bands of stonework connecting and extending directly into the lobby of the first tower. Each water feature with its rounded edges, patterning and texturing performs in special ways, bringing movement, sound, interaction and environmental comfort within each space. To achieve this, the design of the stonework used digital modelling to create the complex shapes and surface textures. Taikoo Place has adopted numerous, comprehensive and cross-disciplinary sustainable design practices that have led to securing the highest grading in several sustainability assessment tools including BEAM plus, LEED and WELL.