Luzhou River Park Masterplan Competition won by Gillespies with JTP

Gillespies with John Thompson and Partners (JTP) have won the Daoliu River Park Design Competition in Luzhou, China.

The competition was run by the Luzhou Longma Tan District Government and the judging panel was made up of the Luzhou city mayor and city officers.

The brief was to design a masterplan for the Daoliu River ecological corridor, a wide river valley site that spans 900 hectares close to Luzhou Old Town.

The competition-winning vision for the River Park is to create a place that allows city dwellers to experience the best aspects of rural life within the city boundary. The masterplan divides the site into several character parks such as the 'Sports Park', 'Arts Park', and 'Forest Park'.

Each park offers different activities and encourages visitors to participate and learn. The winning proposal centres the focal point for the new community around 'a farm village' with a market hall for farmers to sell their produce and facilities for 'agri-tourism' where visitors can learn to grow and pick their own. The masterplan also proposes widening a section of the river to create a lake which could be used for boating, canoeing and sailing.