TLS Landscape consortium to design 74-hectare Lion Mountain Park in Suzhou

A consortium led by Tom Leader Studio Landscape Architecture had the winning scheme for Lion Mountain Park, a new urban park that will replace an old amusement park and lake in Shishan (Lion) Mountain, located in Suzhou's High-Tech District. Berkeley-based TLS — who collaborated with firms including Guy Nordenson, Kevin Daly, and Kuth / Ranieri — competed against three other teams led by Sasaki Associates, AECOM Hong Kong, and Hassell.

With construction expected to kick off next March, the 74-hectare Lion Mountain Park is said to be the first large-scale project that will adapt the Chinese government's new Urban Work Guidelines, which aims to better enforce eco-friendly infrastructure and urban development throughout China — such as the sponge cities. 

Read on for more about the winning scheme from TLS Landscape Architects.

“Lion Mountain forms the core of a new urban ecosystem complex and is united with the newly enlarged Shishan Lake by a great circular promenade which also organizes new development parcels surrounding the park”, TLS Landscape Architecture says. “The project will be a unique urban effort to renew and regenerate mountain, forest, and aquatic environments using natural processes and the time-honored Chinese concept of Shanshui – the union of mountain and lake.” 

There will also be an extensive public art program that will highlight local cultural and artistic traditions of an ancient city famous for its rich historic core, which has UNESCO World Heritage architecture and courtyard gardens.

“Lion Mountain Park will be the first large scale public project in China constructed to demonstrate the Chinese government's new Urban Work Guidelines. Shishan Lake will be doubled in size and its water quality raised from a murky Level 3 to a sparkling Level 1 through the creation of a new sustainable watershed – harvesting annual rainfall and naturally cleaning new development area run-off that typically goes into overwhelmed city systems and intensifies downstream flooding.”

“As the circular promenade unfolds around the site it will become the prime venue for daily social life modeled on the famous Ten Scenes of West Lake in Hangzhou. The park will create a unique high-value urban focus based not on the typical use of architectural monuments but on a diverse and flourishing nature and an ancient geological landmark named long ago for its resemblance to the head of a guardian lion.”

Project credits:

TLS leads a multi-disciplinary team including:

• Guy Nordenson and Assoc., New York, Structural Engineer
• Kevin Daly Architects, Los Angeles
• Kuth/Ranieri Architects, San Francisco
• Endres Studio, Emeryville, CA, Structural Engineer
• Lotus Water, San Francisco, Sustainable Watershed Planning
• Betti-Sue Hertz, San Francisco, Public Art Consultant
• 64 North assisted TLS in the competition

All images courtesy of TLS Landscape Architecture. 

Check out a video of the proposal and additional project images in the gallery below. You can find more about the proposal here.