This project is located on the shore of a small lake on the east side of Changsha city. The project was developed by China Railway Corp. as a low-density luxury housing community. We were hired to master plan the entire community, provide architectural design for all housing units, and provide detailed design for the commercial retail street at the main south gate. 

Based on China Railway Co’s market team’s analysis, it would be successful if this community adopts a distinct architectural style to form a holistic identity. This style is chosen to be the so-called Southern Californian style. The marketing team even came up with a name for the community: Californian Water Reflection. Our design team didn’t hate this style which we would call the Mediterranean style. We particularly liked the idea of creating a strong holistic design. So the team went to work together. The result didn’t disappoint our client.

For the site plan, we created meandering inner and outer ring roads to navigate the hilly terrain, and keep smaller streams and water ponds intact. We build a good pedestrian path network to work with the roadways and landscaping. We designated the relatively high center point of the community peak, placed a lookout tower, and connected a pathway axis with the waterfront center pier, both are community landmarks that are also used as the trademark identity.

A shopping street is designed as a retail center for the community located near the main gate. Its architectural style is also Mediterranean with bright colors, low-pitch roofs, and large terraces. It is built in phase 1 as a way to provide early amenities and promote sales, as it will help to create a good ambiance for the community.

For residential unit types, we designed single-family villas, duplexes, townhouses, and apartment high-rise towers. Townhouses are favored by the marketplace due to moderate prices and private front and back yards. So we designated many phase-1 units to be townhouses. Unlike other unit types, people enjoy a sort of semi-public communal space in townhouses, which is preferred. Therefore, even in luxury low-density communities like this project, people still want to have a sense of belonging, a lesson we learned from this project for creating a social community for healthy living.