Chapters 1 to 11 Combined - Century City

LANDSCAPE CHARACTER ANDDESIGN GUIDELINESIn order to maintain continuity in theoverall landscape character,developers are required to designand implement appropriatelandscapes around their buildings inaccordance with these designguidelines.STRUCTURAL PRINCIPLESGateway SquaresDefining the importance of the entrynode into the site can be enhancedby vertical elements that accentuatethe space created by the urbanform.This can be done:o By utilising large trees or palmtrees to soften the verticalelement of the space. Bringingthe scale down for pedestrianpurposes.o By utilising lighting, banner polesand other structural elements toadd character to the urban form.o By a change in surface materialfrom asphalt to paving materialsuch as clay brick, concrete paver,cobbles etc at the intersections. Thechange in surface material will alsointegrate the vehicular aspect of thespace with a pedestrian scale ofdetail.Boulevard & LinkagesThe boulevard and linkages arepredominantly orientated to vehicularmovement. The urban form needs tocreate an enclosed urban streetscape,that relates to the pedestrian scale anddetail.This can be done as follows.o Utilising street trees with spreadingcanopies should reduce theboulevard/ linkages scale. The treeswill integrate the wide vehicularsurface with the urban form on apedestrian scale.o A landscape median in theboulevard will also soften the roadarea and at the same time place theboulevard at an higher order withinthe linkage system.o Detail at the pedestrian scale willenhance the urban experience.Detail such as paving material andpatterns, lighting poles, bannerpoles and urban furniture willcontribute to the character of theurban form.Wetland InterfaceThe wetland and channels are the majorvalue contributor to Century City. Theinterface between the built form andthis value contributor is crucial.o A pedestrian scale is important atthe interface.o Pedestrians should be able towalk alongside the channel andwetland. A broad walk along thechannel and wetland inappropriate paving surface istherefore necessary.o The urban form, if possible,should be set back from thechannel and wetland. Softlandscaping in the open spacebetween the built form and thechannel is preferred.o Pedestrian scale can be maintainedwith trees and palms andappropriate landscape elements suchas park furniture, bollard lightingetc.Internal Open SpacePrivate open space should be acombination of hard landscaping andsoft landscaping.o Hard landscaping will predominatelyoccur where the built form facesonto public roads and where internalvehicular and parking areas occur.o Soft landscaping will occur as aninternal ‘park’ at the rear or alongside the built form, or between thebuilt form and the channel andwetland.o Soft landscaping should also be usedto soften the built form andespecially along the foot of thebuilding.o Soft landscaping should never beless than 40% of the open spaceallocated.PLANNING PARTNERS: CENTURY CITY URBAN DESIGN FRAMEWORK October 2005 46 REVISION 1