Sustainable Water Management and Resilient Landscape for LEO

Project Background: The new headquarter for LEO Group, a company that specializes in pump technology, is situated in Wenling City, Easten China. The project is a “Sponge City” pilot project to lead sustainable water management and adaptive design for this new development on reclaimed coastal land.



LID and “Sponge City”: The project area has long been plagued by both Typhoon and water shortage. It is therefore a key area for the “Sponge City Strategy” – a government initiative aims at improving urban resilience against extreme weather events, based on LID principles. The design took a holistic approach towards the stormwater management on site. By directing water run-off through a system of green roofs, swales, rain gardens and ponds in the landscape, the campus retains 85% of its annual rainfall on site, which well exceeds the 75% target required by the Strategy.



Water Purification and Reuse: The landscape also purifies water run-off through a series of constructed wetlands, achieving “zero pollution” at the point of discharge (into the City’s network). The campus also holds excess water in a “lake” for landscape irrigation, turning stormwater into reusable resource.



Resilient and Adaptive Landscape: Some spaces were designed to be floodable during storms, which increases the overall water holding capacity of the site. The design also has a seasonal touch that adapts to the dryer winter months.



Healthy campus and Indigenous value: The new campus houses more than two thousand people and most of them also live on site. The landscape provides ample active and passive recreational spaces for employees and visitors alike. Hard and planting materials were selected for their ecological and indigenous value and sourced locally. An outdoor pump exhibition was also included to showcase the history and culture of the enterprise.