Banyan tree gate, Goldmark City

Goldmark City is a new urban area in Hanoi covering an area of 12 hectares, comprising 10 high-rise buildings as the residence for approximately 12,000 residents. The landscape design of the project, led by Eden Landscape, aims to create a dynamic and stylish living space for the inhabitants.

Before the urbanization era, the banyan tree was one of the most favored trees in Vietnamese society. Every village was “marked” by the banyan tree, wells, communal yards, and these images have deeply ingrained in the memories of every Vietnamese. Whenever one sees the image of banyan tree, it means they are coming home. Due to such symbolic meanings, Eden Landscape used the image of the banyan tree as the inspiration for the design of the Banyan Tree Gate.

The fusion of cultural tradition and modern materials helped to create a new concept for designing the entrance gate in Vietnam. The gate consists of 6 massive steel modules (6 is a lucky number in Vietnamese culture) with a high-stretch concrete funnel core serving as planters inside. The dimensions of each module are 9600x9600x8200 (mm). Each steel tree was divided into 3 parts which were composed by I150 and I200 steel bars combined with D40, D60 steel module. The individual steel bars are powder-coated in black and green, connected with bolts and screws. The top part utilizes CNC water jet cutting technology to create large canopy inspired from leaf vein. The reinforced concrete planters are carefully calculated to accommodate the growth of greenery and maintain the irrigation system. Instead of manual irrigation, we used a drip irrigation system with a remote control which was set up inside the module to provide enough water for the growth of the tree and also help to save water.

All selected landscape trees are tropical native or perennial species, easy to take care and stable in the condition of pruning requirements. The range of species chosen includes: ficus benjamina , bougainvillea spectabilis, crinum amabile, hymenocallis speciosa, crinum amabile, alocasia macrorrhiza, alpinia purpurata, petrea volubilis, ficus microcarpa, bougainvillea spectabilis, cissus sicyoides, tristellateia austral, quiqualis indica. The selected shade tree was ficus benjamina – a good growth species, having a green canopy, clean, fewer pests, less broken and easy to prune. The shade trees were kept stable by holding system coupled with a steel module. Climber plants with dropping roots helped to create a lively ecosystem.