Dongshan Island

Dongshan Island is a healthy, community-based neighbourhood creating an alternative urban typology for China. It combines the comforts of urban living with the rural DNA of the site, while achieving a high density of 100 homes per hectare.

Over the past decades, China has urbanized at an incredible pace, with hundreds of millions of people moving from the countryside to cities. Mostly, this happened in the standard xiaoqu: a gated residential compound of high-rise towers. MORE Architecture wanted to challenge this typology and create a healthy, human-scale neighbourhood.

Instead of towers, MORE developed a mid-rise scheme of urban blocks, with a maximum height of 24 meters. Buildings at the waterfront are four floors high, while those at the back rise to six or seven floors, creating diversity and an intimate scale at street level.

The alternative housing block is the ‘urban villa’: an 18 x 18-meter building with a central core, allowing apartments to have views in all directions. The flexible typology accommodates different layouts, from one to four apartments per floor and duplexes. A concrete structure of columns and floors allows the interiors to adapt and change over time.

The relation with nature plays an essential role. Generous balconies overlook the surrounding hills and tea plantations, while white ceramic facades with subtle curved details reference the local bamboo landscape.

Instead of the ubiquitous gated community, Dongshan Island is conceived as an open community: accessible, inviting and permeable. Shared amenities, including fitness facilities and a kindergarten, create opportunities for interaction between residents of different ages and lifestyles.

The neighbourhood is completely car-free, with a fine-grained urban structure that stimulates walking, cycling and outdoor life. Allotment gardens and farming surround the development, creating a meaningful connection between urban and rural life and inviting residents and children to learn about healthy, locally produced food.