La Promenade wins master planning award for HSL
KUCHING: La Promenade, a 200- acre mixed development along Sungai Sarawak, has won in the master planning category at this year’s Malaysia Landscape Architecture Awards held in Kuala Lumpur recently during the World Landscape Architecture Month endorsed by the International Federation of Landscape Architects.
The developer, Hock Seng Lee ( HSL) is the fi rst Sarawakian fi rm to win the prestigious award. Past private sector winners included UEM Sunrise, Gamuda Land, SP Setia and Setia Eco Glades.
Judge s wer e impr e s s e d with HSL’s early landscape implementation at priority areas, even distribution of its parks, streetscape consistency and pedestrian amenities.
HSL was praised for allocating 15 per cent of development land to usable green and open spaces — instead of only 10 per cent as required under state planning guidelines.
Its director Tony Yu was overjoyed with the award, saying it was a validation of the firm’s commitment to green spaces for La Promenade right from the planning stage.
“For La Promenade, we made landscaping a core component. A landscaper worked side- by- side with the master planner and house architects.
“To achieve the results that we see today, HSL had to beef up its landscaping unit to the same level of record-keeping as building construction. It’s been an interesting learning curve that has paid off,” he said in a statement yesterday.
To demonst rate, Yu said every single plant planted was documented, from the 667 Norfolk pines to the 27,533 tea-leaf shrubs and the 18 hopea trees. The meticulous record allowed for good maintenance.
Meanwhile, in-house landscaper Leslie Lim said his unit created a simplified maintenance manual based on local site conditions.
“There is no way to plant and maintain gardens of this size and complexity without taking a systematic approach. What we are doing here is really creating and maintaining a township within a park,” he remarked.
He was particularly proud of the linear parks between houses and also the La Promenade lake, which incorporates a bio- filter that enables it to draw clean water directly from the Sarawak River, incorporating the surrounding natural habitat into the development. For more information on La Promenade, please visit hsl.com. my. Guided tours of La Promenade can also be arranged with the sales team.