
Chongqing, China
Status: Built
John Hreno’s work at Terrain Studio
A transit-oriented destination where infrastructure, public life, and storytelling meet. As China's first high-speed railway TOD, the design weaves the past, present, and future of transportation into an urban living room for southwest Chongqing.

North Plaza and cloud-like canopy

Multiple layers of circulation activity

Design concept vision

Movement informs the aesthetic

South Plaza and Paradise Walk

Plantings soften the courtyards and stairs

A cloud floats above dining

Amenities, seating, and monumental lighting

Family Train Park and view
T.O.D. is a large-scale transit-oriented development that integrates a high-speed railway, three subway lines, ground transportation hubs, residential towers, and major commercial mixed-use development into one complex within an existing downtown urban environment. The first high-speed railway TOD complex in China, the project represents a total investment of over 10 billion RMB. The Three Gorges Retail Plaza and Shapingba Railway Station form a new urban Central Business District—an urban living room for southwest Chongqing.
All ground and terrace-level experiences were designed within the theme of past, present, and future public transportation and mass pedestrian movement. The visual energy is highly fluid, incorporating ecologically responsible materials and layered storytelling. The design unfolds as "A Story About Trains—Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow": the past is anchored by Family Train Park and Train View Park, the present by the central "Train to Paradise" transit hub, and the future by the Future Kaleidoscope and Magic Future Train zones.
The public realm is organized across a sequence of signature spaces. The North Plaza features a cloud-like multi-media canopy and bold, directional granite paving, with regenerative meadow gardens floating atop grand stairs in corten steel planters. The South Plaza fronts Paradise Walk, where layers of monumental scale features create spaces and inform use patterns, framed by Mobius planters and jacaranda trees. Family Train Park reprograms historic train cars with family play experiences, dining, and lounging, while Train View Park offers a lookout over the rail yard.
Roof-level terraces extend the landscape vertically with water features, meadow plantings, and pedestrian paths that connect the towers. The design connects the commercial river to the adjacent lakes, tributaries, streams, and creeks of people—drawing residential, university, and school populations into a single, high-energy core. The result is a new landmark and commercial tourist destination—a mountain city on the river where infrastructure becomes public experience.
Project year
2020
Status
Built
John’s role
Landscape design and detail development; international project management
Project area
3 city blocks
Client
Longfor Properties
Landscape elements
Granite paving, corten steel planters, bamboo decking, vertical gardens, glass canopy, rooftop gardens, themed paving and lighting
Architecture
Nikken Sekkei
Interiors
ECE
Image source
Nikken Sekkei
Recognition
Awards

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