| Category | Sports, Community & Recreation |
|---|---|
| Year | 2018 |
| Size | 80,000sqm |
Projects
Aspen Vision City Central Island Park
Urban, Play, Oasis
Central Park is the anchor landscape centrepiece of Aspen Vision City (AVC) - the first intelligently integrated smart city in Northern Malaysia, a 99-hectare coastal development in Penang rife with oil palm plantations. The park is a modern oasis but also features a conserved 100-year old ficus tree. The project is envisioned as an evolving new park and recreation destination for AVC and Penang and designed to foster wellness living with expansive fitness and recreation areas for all ages. It also hosts lakefront F&B attractions and natural habitat areas, as well as flexible event spaces for the community.
As a new town development with no existing user catchment from nearby residential, office and commercial developments in the immediate vicinity, Central Park will be constructed in layered phases to meet evolving needs of new residents and visitors. Phase 1 focuses on delivering key park infrastructures, stormwater storage in the water lagoon, an outdoor amphitheatre and main pedestrian and service vehicle network. It now attracts visitors from the main Penang Island and from the few neighbouring developments. Phase 2, currently underway, will install the remaining features and amenities, bringing to fruition a complete vision of Aspen Central Park.
Details
Due to the large 99-ha catchment area, managing the incoming stormwater to the pond is critical in maintaining water quality, and ensuring sediments and the nutrient content of incoming water is controlled to prevent eutrophication and algae bloom. Various landscape water treatment typologies such as sedimentation basins, created wetlands, rain gardens and bioswales are designed around the Central Lagoon, from where it will be discharged where appropriate. Correctly designed and sized treatment systems are also instrumental to achieve the optimum balance between the aesthetic and functional demands of the park.
Central Park will feature both active and passive edge treatments, such as steps, slopes and boardwalks allowing users to come closer and interact with the water, flora and fauna, and passive vegetation buffers vital for habitat creation and increasing biodiversity.
Programmatically, Central Park is divided into three main zones – Family Festival, Adventure Lagoon and Urban Sanctuary.
The Family Festival zone is focused on universally designed recreational facilities for all ages, starting with the Festival Court at the main entrance for large-scale outdoor events, with features such as expansive Activity Lawn, romantic Flower Meadow and an interactive plaza, it is optimised for place-making and festivities throughout the year.
The Adventure Lagoon zone is a children-centric zone with a large Adventure Playground and Play Stream. The Playground is based on a ‘Jungle Trail’ concept with undulating play mounds, hanging bridges, look-out towers and exploration areas. Meanwhile, the Play Stream and aqua-play area facilitate a splashing good time.
The Urban Sanctuary in the third zone aims to create a lush, forest-like environment through dense planting of selected tree species. The Heritage Arboretum in this zone accommodates native forest trees planting to attract fauna such as pollinators and birds.
In the recently completed Phase 1, a value-engineered version, the pond is temporarily edged in grass and planting. In the next phase, these edges will be upgraded to the final design scheme.
Specialist Services
Integrated services provided for this project.