Kunming is known for year-round spring-like weather  and unmatched natural scenery in China. The famed Dian  Lake area is especially sought after property for its tourism  and commercial value. The location of Kunming’s 7th water treatment plant is no exception. This project is an effort to best cultivate this huge real estate potential while keep-  ing the treatment plant in operation. Our design solution  provides a bold and ingenious idea for this objective. The  31-acre site is triangular with a small river floating by north  east and the beautiful Dian lake lies in its south and west.

Our team helped to develop a program for a  hotel, corporate office, a conference center, ser-  vice apartments, retail, and spaces for leisure. All  these facilities are to be initially managed by the  state-owned company that operates the plant.  After comparing design options, we chose the  most daring one. It is an elevated L shaped structure that bridges over the water plant. An independent deck of looped walkway is built at 10  meters above ground, in addition to connecting  pedestrians among new facilities, this deck will  take visitors and residents alike to look over the  plant (get an education about water quality and  environment), and venture out to the bar streets  by the river for some fun. Circulations below this  deck is mostly for plant operation that is kept  separate from access points.

Hotels, retail, and conferences are located in the three  points of the L. For seismic protection, the monumental L is made of the aforementioned three buildings  and connected with lightweight bridges that work as  sky-links essentially. Several green courtyards, sky gar-  dens and open atria are also included in the L to break  down the solid mass. It is an elegant structure on the  lake shore, like a bird ready to take off. It provides a  poetic design illustration for an economic model to utilize unused real estate in the city.