Shenzhen is a place of utter newness, a city born in the 1990’s. It is the cradle of tech innovation in China and regards itself and its urbanism as entirely future focused. The people of Shenzhen are from all over the country, as such it is a city comprised almost entirely of migrants, most of whom are looking to the future and the part their new city will play in it.

Shenzhen also yearns to establish a sense of history and belonging. Buji, the name of the district in which BAM’s project is located, by origin is a Hakka word, used to be a settlement to this ethnic group in the past. The planned economic experimentation which originated in Shenzhen was the spark that led to China’s great economic miracle and forged the city’s identity as a place for experimentation unbound by the cultural baggage often found in cities with thousands of years of history. BAM’s project pushes the boundaries of Shenzhen's rapid acceptance culture of experimentation.

The project site is set within a mountainous region of Shenzhen, resulting in dynamic height differences of up to 16 meters. This in conjunction with stringent emergency vehicle access requirements, typical for Chinese residential projects, results in what at first appears to be very little remaining space for the landscape. Within these restrictions BAM found opportunities to create stark visual contrasts between soft and hardscape materials that articulate various spatial conditions.
The landscape of the project consists of two different types of landscapes, The undulating street landscape at ground level for retail and bus terminal, and recreational gardens for residents on the upper level, atop the architectural podium. The podium level landscape is unceremoniously cut in two by the required emergency vehicle circulation. BAM adapts the required emergency vehicle circulation into a zigzagging path as is the primary element which divides the site, while also bringing it together, meanwhile acting as the main circulation leading residents to their open-air tower lobbies.

The design leverages the different microclimates on site. The play gardens to the north have greater sun exposure, and the relaxation gardens to the south of the path tucked between the buildings are shrouded with planting resulting in a cooler micro-climate. The five main playgrounds are interlinked - the hedge maze leads to the slide and swings area, which links to the toddlers circus and then connects to the vertical playground “The Playscraper”, culminating in the adult oriented activity plaza equipped with outdoor exercise equipment. 

It is not common even in China, that a series of interlinked playgrounds would become the central organizing feature of an entire development. The mere existence of such an explosive gesture of planting, patterning, color, and materials which has become so quickly absorbed into the local culture as common place, typical, or even generic, illustrates Shenzhen’s progressive nature to which BAM’s playground project is a constructed testament.