Features Desk: Hung Yen Ecopark – An Experience in Planning and Design in Vietnam
Features Desk
The key challenge of the project is to create a waterfront community, where there would be minimum impact on the existing water ecosystem within the site, and resilient to climate change. The team has studied and establish the development concept, drawing influences from Ciputra Hanoi International City and Phu My Hung Township, along with waterfront residential community in Florida and Gold Coast, and the newly minted Sentosa Cove in Singapore.
We wanted to explore the
idea of a water community by making use of the proposed freshwater lake
connected to Bac Hung Hai to create a sustainable water ecosystem within the
township and to maintain the water quality for development. Various typologies
for housing and mixed used developments were created to gives residents and
visitors direct access to the waterfront and enjoy the waterfront living. While
located on the outskirts of Hanoi, our vision was to make the township a
lifestyle destination.
Like most township
master plan projects, we started the concept design with the site analysis and
benchmarking. However, unlike previous projects our analysis was very environmentally
driven from the early stage with Dr. Nirmal Kishnani as part of our team, with
in depth studies of the climate and its effects on human comfort in public
spaces. We introduced the concept of Environmentally Sustainable Development to
the client, with the focus on maximizing airflow and creating cooler
microclimates in the warm summers and maximizing sunlight in the winter in
Hanoi.
One of the master planning
strategies was to capitalize on the new fresh-water lake and making use of the
difference in platform levels within the development to create a natural water flow,
the team worked closely with the civil and environmental engineers to minimize
net cut and fill in the process. The fresh-water lake contributes to evaporative
cooling, water detention and contamination control for the development, and
creates a pleasant environment that blends in with the green spaces, which are
well incorporated into the urban design strategies.
Before we were
formally appointed, the client had obtained 1:2000 scale master plan approval
from the authority, and had also conducted a business study with an external
consultant. Therefore there was a substantial amount of parameters that we could
work with, including general landuse, type of residential and mixed use
products, special districts such as an old town district to be modelled after
old Hanoi streets, a knowledge district, a creative district and a sports
district. The freshwater lake and reusing an existing canal was also present in
the 1:2000 scale master plan. We began to review the concepts and bring
together the business concept and the approved plan to generate options, for
the tweaking of the master plan and to harmonise the product types with the
site conditions.
Inputs from the team
led by Dr. Nirmal was especially enlightening at that point in time. Through
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations based on the prevailing wind
directions, 2 strategies for the tweaking of the landuse and building massing
in the old town district and commercial & mixed use district was
formulated. We proposed punctuating wind corridors to take advantage of the
southeastly winds during the summer, and using building forms to block the
northeastly winds during the winter, to provide better human comfort along the
streets and open spaces. The second strategy was to introduce additional
streets diagonally across the urban grid to reduce the extent of window shadows
during summer. Making use of the recommendations, we weaved in urban design
concepts such as diagonal pedestrian links to activate the urban spaces, and
main pedestrian avenues across the old town to improve legibility and
wayfinding.
 |
| Wind Flow Studies |
A set of detailed landscape designs was proposed to enhance the over concept by creating a series of thematic urban pedestrian streets with trees for shading during the summer and; a resting zone to support the ground floor retails activity and community bonding.
 |
| Urban Design and Landscape Proposals for Thematic Urban Pedestrian Streets |
We also worked closely with environmental engineers to develop a water-sensitive urban design (WSUD) concept and implementation plan for the township. The site was particularly challenging for us and the engineers because it was cut across by 2 major canals that had dykes that were significantly higher that the ground level - the Bac Hung Hai Canal, and a smaller Lay Sa Canal. This meant that any surface drainage system would have to be independent from the canals.
We worked closely with
the engineers to develop the implementation strategy of using the proposed
fresh-water lake to retain the surface water drainage, while making use of a
combination of WSUD concepts and treatment strategies to ensure the quality of the
water in the lake is maintained at a high level. A computer simulation study
was carried out to ensure the proposed fresh-water lake retains the surface discharge
during the dry season, and there are sufficient overflow channels to discharge
water during and after wet weather. Additionally, considering the water in the
lake would be predominantly a closed system and only drawing water from the
canals when necessary, the engineers also proposed aeration techniques for the
lake.
 |
| Water Body and Natural Circulation Plans |
We had intense discussions with the environmental engineers over the drainage and sewerage treatment proposals, to develop a plan that would be cost-effective, while ensuring that maintenance of the systems could be kept at high standards in the long run.
The benchmarking
studies also came in handy when we were proposing different type of waterfront
and canal housing. We studied the geometries of the waterfront housing at Hope
Island and Clear Island Waters in Gold Coast, and came up with a variety of
communities consisting of both linear canal housing and more organic shapes. We
also took reference from Bandar Botanic in Malaysia to develop housing clusters
of a good side of around 200 units complete with facilities, and connected to
parks and greenery. To ensure that the water quality within the canals between
the housing would be maintained, the engineers also proposed pipe culverts
under the roads and ensure that the water would be continuously circulated. A
detailed water edge design treatment was designed with the inputs from
landscape architects to create a variety of waterfront landscapes for the
waterfront community. The master plan went through a lot of adjustments and
improvements along the way. Lay Sa Canal was adjusted to meander within the
township, after considering that it could not be removed, but it could also be
capitalized as a feature. The meandering also meant that the fresh-water lake
need not overcross or undercross the canal, saving both capital and maintenance
costs for the developer. The design of the canal housing clusters were changed
several times.
 |
| Phase 1 of the Township Development |
One major change was the area north of Bac Hung Hai during the 1:500 design and submission stage. The developer decided that as a business strategy, this area could be implemented as Phase 1 of the development, and at the same time test the market with the different product types that we had proposed. We had to make a significant design change in the process, to include all the main elements in the Phase 1 site, including landed residential clusters, high-rise apartments, a smaller version of the old town Hanoi district that also serves as the commercial and retail amenities for the residents, along with facilities such as schools and parks, and a sales and showflat building for the township.
With the Phase 1
development as a poof-of-concept and with meticulous design and implementation,
it turned out as a success and the development was able to attract significant
interests.
The project was
awarded the best complex development project in Vietnam and the Vietnam Green
Award 2012 from the Vietnam Architects’ Association. The award recognizes Hung
Yen Ecopark’s efforts to incorporate international design principles and
practices for urban township development in Vietnam.
The township continued
to grow steadily over the next 10 years since the first phase was completed in
around 2012. Today, Hung Yen Ecopark is well known as one of the earliest townships
in Vietnam that is based on environmentally sustainable concepts and for its
abundance of greenery.
Comments
Post a Comment