Zhangdu Lake Farm is a sustainable rural residential community in a suburban interface of the Wuhan metropolitan area in Hubei, China. A South site of 237,200 square meters and a North site of 113,700 square meters are created to house 10,500 new residential units and a total planned population of 3,180 households. The planning of the Zhangdu Lake Eco-Community involved the registration of three distinct scales at which the integration of architectural, ecological, and landscape systems come together to form a new model for a dense countryside living on both the North and South site of the project. These communities will have fully supported and ecologically sustainable infrastructure, including bioswales and constructed and natural wetlands. This practice of consolidating residential areas in agricultural regions is becoming prevalent in rural areas of China as domestic food production becomes an increasing concern for the country’s expanding population.
The sites were organized through a parametric “packing” equation. 17 groups of cells or “neighborhoods” are created to form residential clusters. Proposed streets, as well as parking and open areas for public and civic events separate these neighborhoods. Residential units are proposed in a series of tower types- three types on the North site and two on the South. There are connecting “bridge” buildings that are planned on the perimeter of each neighborhood cell, creating open space at the interior of these cells for residential use. Each cell functions as a community and has its own community identity making individual neighborhoods. Clustering these cells and utilizing open space between them allows for larger public and civic functions. Natural and constructed wetlands surround these communities and form a soft transition between the built environment and the agricultural fields that surround it. Each cell has a unique green interior that contains walking paths, managed lawns, rain gardens, and natural areas that support and reinforce the ground floor design of the neighborhood buildings and facilitate the interaction between residents and nature. The surrounding constructed and natural wetlands provide ecological functions including natural storm water management and wastewater treatment.