Subtropical SEED in China: new sustainable urban nodes in Hangzhou

Abstract

The Griffith SEED Collaborative is a built environment design practice and research unit located within the Urban Research Program in the School of Environment at Griffith University. The collaborative provides an intellectual environment enabling Griffith academics and design professionals to develop and offer exploratory, creative and innovative design leadership. The unit champions the thesis that design is of itself a research activity that helps to define; our understanding of the nature of the built environment; the problems that we confront in creating built environments, and ultimately; creative solutions to those problems. Projects are typically undertaken in collaborative ventures with external partners. The work on these major 'real world' interdisciplinary built environment projects provides integrated ecologically focused design outcomes. The unit has in particular developed strong relationships with partners in Hangzhou city in China, and collaboratively developed proposals for key urban design and infrastructure projects. A number of these projects have now been realized or are in construction, providing 'best practice' exemplars for the city and region. These projects incorporate; urban interventions providing the built environment armature to enable and facilitate best sustainable practice; urban interventions acting as catalysts for economic growth and social regeneration; urban interventions that form a new and distinct identity for the location; application of sustainable systems and technologies to 'real world' built environment projects; synthesis of retail, transport and residential programs to create dynamic and transformative urban nodes; and contemporary communal settings. This paper will outline the structure and approach of the Griffith SEED Collaborative with reference to recent projects in Hangzhou.