The Dongli Lake Development is a mixed-use community located outside of Tianjin, China that will house 50,000 people when completed.  Intuition & Logic worked with an international team of engineers, architects, wetland scientists and land planners in developing a design approach that captures and treats stormwater from the entire development in a series of wetlands.  The design challenges include poor ground water quality with high salt and phosphorous concentration, a drought-prone climate and a requirement that the wetland also serve as a highly attractive community focal point.

 


The design team developed a strategy detailing proposed water management including appropriate routing, circulation, water quality, and operation and maintenance. We devised water harvesting and point of contact pre-treatment concepts to improve the delivery rate, quality and quantity of runoff delivered to the wetland complex. 

 

 

The final design is a free water surface wetland comprised of 12 wetland cells totaling 300 acres of emergent wetland and open water marsh.  Wildlife habitat is explicitly included in the design, a feature that is very rare in contemporary residential development in China.  To support a more sustainable lifestyle and help residents understand the functions of the wetland, the developers also asked the design team to incorporate a community educational center where residents, especially children, can have hands-on experiences measuring water quality, enjoying wildlife viewing and learning about wetlands and plant-animal interactions.