Waves of Green: Shma's Landscape Design for Le Meridien Hotel

Le Meridien Hotel, located on one of the street corners in Zhengzhou City, China, wants a beautiful landscape to look at while supporting the arrangement of its parking lot. But on the other hand, this area of 6,000 square meters is also expected to be a new gathering place for the surrounding community, even though it is a privately owned public space.

Le Meridien Hotel and its wavy green garden, designed by Shma.

In the context of a densely populated urban area, the project's design was entrusted to Shma, a landscape architecture firm from Thailand. Shma, who has fully understood the needs and conditions of their client, then offers a landscape design concept that prioritizes interactive, imaginative, and artistic aspects. These three are the main indicators to make the landscape of Le Meridien Hotel a new city landmark.

This landscape is also a public space for the community around the hotel.

Shma revealed that Zhengzhou’s historic woven textile industry inspired the design. Shma transformed the process of weaving fabrics that form fine waves into the design of Le Meridien's garden. The series of wavy green grass lines that make up this garden implies a flexible public space. The line pattern also follows the position of the hotel lobby, which directly intersects with this landscape. In front of the lobby, Shma added a water feature designed to follow the flow of the green lines.

The undulating shape of the park is inspired by the historic woven textile industry in Zhengzhou.

The water feature in front of the hotel lobby is the main element of the garden in welcoming visitors.

To make the garden look even more special, Shma added tactile details to its design. For example, finishing with two different colors for a grass planter made of stainless steel. This is to display the other garden characters when viewed from two opposite directions - the street and the hotel lobby.

The planter side facing the street is given a bronze color to project energy and a pleasant atmosphere for pedestrians. Meanwhile, the opposite side facing the hotel lobby has a glossy black color that can give tranquility and a casual impression.

From the streets, the garden seems energized and full of a pleasant atmosphere as one side of the planter is painted in a sparkling bronze.

The planter side facing the hotel lobby is painted in shiny black to give a calm and casual impression.

In addition, Shma also pays attention to the arrangement of hardscape elements such as paving blocks, waterways, and soil depth, because part of the garden area is built on an underground metro station. Additional structures, including guard houses and lampposts at both entrances to the park, must also be carefully designed.

The garden entrance plaza is equipped with a guard house.

Details of paving blocks in the park parking area.

With Le Meridien Hotel, the garden has finally succeeded in bringing the city's appearance to life with wavy green grasses. Today, Le Meridien park is a public space that serves a variety of community activities like meetings, recreation, and wedding photoshoots.

Master plan.

Zoning diagram.