Shopping Park occupies a prominent commercial parcel in the heart of Shenzhen’s thriving business district. The site adjoins the elegant Ping An International Financial Center building, the tallest in Shenzhen, and the acclaimed COCO Park Shopping area. 

Originally a parkland in the city center, rapid urbanization over several decades at Shopping Park has resulted in haphazard and disorganized food and beverage businesses.

TOPOS led the transformative rehabilitation of the space, strategically revitalizing the notion of a public park. Organizational strategies were aimed at establishing vitality with well-furnished outdoor rooms, extensive gardens, and integral relationships to commercial uses. A hierarchy of purpose-driven public spaces were framed in association with select restaurant and retail uses. A cohesive garden network unifies a diverse architectural vocabulary.

Much of the illegal commercial expansions into the space were demolished. The vacant space resulting from the demolition was choreographed as a series of distinctive garden rooms: the Arcade Garden, Banyan Tree Amphitheater, Traditional Cantonese Terraced Gallery, Green Shade Springs Garden and the Flowering Sculpture Garden. A sequence of movement was organized as an immersive exploration, revealing each unique space as if one is “opening gift boxes.” Feature elements include water, sculpture, and special plant arrangements.