Some private clubs are understated indoors, but placed here they are stunningly beautiful

The terrace is the most romantic and cozy place,

whether it is breezy with light clouds and a wide blue sea and sky,

or with the city lights just coming on and a sky full of stars.

Amid the laughter and conversation,

this place sends you off to distant places and into endless reverie.

Having seen so many indoor private clubs,

now finding yourself among flowers and plants,

push open the door, and unexpectedly there is a garden.

In the distance is the city scene, before your eyes a delicate floral fragrance,

the scene on the terrace is filled with laughter and joyful voices.

This 300 sq m terrace rooftop garden,

how exactly does it turn everyday business into refined living?

The terrace garden serves as an extension of a chairman's private club, mainly used for receptions, business discussions and leisure activities. When first taking on the project, considering that the outdoor terrace garden was an extension of the indoor club, the entire garden design was divided into east and west parts, with a simple and elegant tone as the keynote, and a spatial layout that fits the business and leisure function.

Floor plan

The client's positioning for the garden was that the east terrace space should fit the character of a business and leisure club, with a leisure platform, a bar counter and a barbecue area; the west terrace takes miniature golf as its theme, with a golf putting green combined with a green plant wall and a rich mix of plants.

When redesigning and planning, both the east and west terraces were basically bare concrete ground, with retaining walls about 1.3 m high on all sides, and in addition there were boilers, air-conditioning equipment and protruding chimney vents on the terrace... All these existing conditions required the designer, when deepening the design, not only to consider maximizing the use of space but also to combine it with aesthetics.

Design approach

East terrace

The east terrace takes blooming petals and flower bud symbols as its design theme, using circles and arcs as the main design elements to soften the monotony of the square space.

At the ends of the flower buds, two symmetrical circular leisure viewing areas are cleverly arranged, raised by three steps, and furnished with high-end outdoor sofas and seats.

At the flower bud in the middle, a very beautiful bar counter is custom-made; the white bar chairs shaped like calla lilies are crystal clear under the sunlight; on one wing of the flower bud is the barbecue area, and on the other side is a distant-view viewing area.

The whole space of the east terrace is compact yet coherent, planted with carefully selected Japanese maple, shaped boxwood, baby's breath, Aspidistra, verbena, Japanese holly, small camellia, western azalea and other plants. Within the small space, the designers can still create a lawn, making the whole landscape space more open and flexible.

In addition, a major difficulty on the east terrace is the three chimney vents in one corner that rise about 1.5 m above the terrace surface. This part underwent multiple adjustments during construction, and the final confirmed plan was to protect them with a steel frame structure and add stepped wooden steps with potted flowers for decoration. On one hand this facilitates future maintenance work, and on the other it beautifies the vents, making them a scene that cannot be ignored.

West terrace

The west terrace connects through to the entrance of the east terrace, but the west terrace places more emphasis on a green leisure experience, centered on a miniature golf putting green, with clearly layered greenery spreading out around it.

Green vertical plant walls are made on the three enclosing walls of the terrace, making the whole thing "a green blanket about to be spread out", and the small leisure platform blends into it naturally, making the overall space comfortable and pleasant.

As for plant arrangement, the west terrace has three skeleton shaped plants: Nandina, camellia and shaped boxwood. In addition, beside the circular leisure platform there is an elegantly shaped Japanese maple, complemented by shrub balls and a rich ground cover of plants: serissa, Chinese fringeflower balls, azalea balls, hosta, salvia, variegated ivy, gardenia, ivy and so on.

A gentle breeze blows on the terrace; whether you are in the midst of it, sitting or lying down to rest, or standing and gazing into the distance, you can feel the ease and comfort of this high-altitude oasis amid the bustle of the city.

Construction difficulties

The main technical difficulties during terrace construction were the drainage of the terrace roof, reducing the terrace load as much as possible, creating conditions for plant growth and preventing plant roots from penetrating.

First, neither the east nor the west terrace had drainage ditches, and each part had only two outlets, so the designer gave key consideration to drainage during the design process.

Inspection wells were made at the original outlets, using the siphon principle to increase drainage speed and volume; at the same time, a ring of drainage ditches was set around the terrace walls, and the bottom drainage structure was constructed strictly according to standards to ensure smooth drainage.

Second, the base condition of the terrace was bare with no soil, so the planting soil for the plants was all lightweight nutrient soil.

Plants with a large demand for soil depth were planted in flower beds, and the civil engineering part mainly used lightweight materials to reduce the roof load as much as possible.

Compared with the fast pace of the city,

the discussions here in the garden

become all the more vivid,

and the restless heart finds release in the garden.

Time seems to stand still,

everything becomes insignificant,

and all that can draw you in is, in this garden,

a quiet, serene touch of green.