Project Overview

The Rose Garden is a distinguished residential development developed by Greentown China, located along the scenic Jinji Lake in Suzhou Industrial Park, covering a plot area of approximately 46,000 square meters and a gross floor area of around 92,000 square meters. The ground-level construction covers about 47,000 square meters, achieving a plot ratio of 1.02 and a greening rate of 30%. This thoughtfully designed development offers 7-story lake-view residences and 3-story French-style courtyard villas, with a total of 146 households.

The site benefits from exceptional natural surroundings, with Jinji Lake to the north, water features along the southeast, and convenient road access on the west side. The master plan optimizes these natural elements, with the building heights scaled down from north to south to respect height limits while maximizing the utilization of natural resources. A distinctive urban interface extends along the west side of the development, creating a visually engaging streetscape. The main entrance opens onto a grand French-style landscape axis that flows through the residential area and seamlessly connects to the waterside park on the east side. The landscape design emphasizes symmetry and order, with key focal points aligned along north-south and east-west axes. The architectural style draws from classic French design, with building facades reflecting the elegance of symmetrical layouts and structured hierarchies.

Project Commissioner

GREENTOWN CHINA HOLDINGS LIMITED

Project Creator

GOA, GTS | GTE, CCD

Project Brief

The Rose Garden master plan highlights a sense of ceremonial homecoming, featured a 220-meter east-west main axis that runs through the heart of the development. At the main entrance, residents are welcomed into a grand drop-off courtyard framed by an imposing Roman colonnade, extending over 100 meters horizontally. The entrance to the homecoming lobby is further elevated with a refined metal doorhead and luxurious emerald stone, evoking an atmosphere of elegance and sophistication. Inside, a spiral staircase gracefully ascends beneath a skylight dome shaped like a rose petal, creating a dignified yet poetic ambiance.

A key feature along the central axis is the Water Mirror Rose Garden, inspired by the colonnade garden of the Palace of Versailles. This section adopts a Western geometric garden layout, celebrating the beauty of symmetry and order. The east-west central corridor, measuring approximately 100 meters in length, begins at the first structure within the Water Mirror Rose Garden. From there, a series of carefully placed landscape nodes lead toward the second pavilion, culminating in a seamless connection to the urban waterside park at the eastern edge of the site. Given Priority to the design of the waterside node, it features a reflecting pool that mirrors the surrounding landscape, echoing the pedestrian entrance and creating a natural flow between the residential community and the adjacent park. The spatial transition fosters a sense of continuity and extending the visual experience.

Project Innovation/Need

The Rose Garden courtyard villa design introduces innovative concepts that enhance both functionality and lifestyle. The foyer has been reimagined as a garden lobby, elevating the sense of ceremony in the homecoming experience with an independent garden circulation pathway. The ground floor features an expansive garden space, adaptable to a variety of activities, such as private courtyards for elderly family members, outdoor gatherings, alfresco dining, and leisure sports, enriching the quality of everyday life. A key design principle focuses on family equality, catering to the needs of multigenerational living. The layout ensures that each family member—across three generations—enjoys privacy and independent living spaces, fostering harmony within the household. The third floor is designed to the standards of a luxury resort, offering an opulent master suite that combines leisure, entertainment, and everyday living. This suite features a private foyer, reading nook, sleeping area, hotel-style cloakroom, separate bathroom, and a spacious terrace, creating a personal retreat. Every detail has been thoughtfully considered to provide residents with an elevated living experience that balances comfort and sophistication.

Design Challenge

A key challenge of the Rose Garden was how to seamlessly integrate the surrounding natural landscape into the project. The plot sits along Jinji Lake Avenue to the north, offering sweeping lake views, and borders a waterside park to the east. Through thoughtful planning, the design achieves a height-gradient layout that respects zoning limits, with buildings stepping down from 7 stories on the north side to 3 stories on the southeast. This gradual transition ensures that the multi-story residences on the northern edge enjoy uninterrupted views of Jinji Lake, while the lower-rise homes along the southeastern riverbank capitalize on proximity to water features, maximizing the use of natural resources. To address the challenge of relatively close building distances, the facades adopt French classical design principles, featuring Mansard roofs. This architectural strategy softens the building mass, lending a sense of lightness and elegance to the structures. The refined, classic styling balances modern aesthetics with traditional charm, enhancing the project’s overall visual appeal and ensuring the architecture harmonizes with its picturesque setting.

Sustainability

Windows and doors are critical points of heat loss in buildings. While reducing the window-to-wall ratio can enhance thermal insulation. Aligning with Greentown’s commitment to generous glazing and expansive views, the design solution is selecting high-performance doors and windows with superior airtightness and insulation. At Rose Garden, premium doors and windows systems are installed, featuring triple-glazed, double-cavity glasses windows, along with upgraded sliding doors. Complementing these elements are mid-shade louvers, which offer precise light control, creating an adaptive "sunshield" for the building—providing both comfort and energy efficiency during hot summer days.