Suzhou Shi Lake Tao Hua Yuan is located at the Shi Lake Scenic Resort known as “A Half Lake of Fine Jades”. It is 7 kilometers away from the southwestern suburbs of Suzhou City, with Shi Lake to its east and Shangfanshan, a national forest park, to its west. Shi Lake is surrounded by beautiful mountains and waters, boasting a wealth of cultural heritages and picturesque sceneries. It represents the quintessence of pastoral sceneries, waters and mountains in the region traditionally called Jiangnan (literally, “south of the Yangtze River”) and enshrines numerous cultural heritages passed down from past dynasties. The plot of the project is located to the north of Shi Lake. As a result, the Shi Lake Scenic Resort naturally becomes the “garden” for the project and constitutes its traditional elements.

Suzhou is famous for unique gardens that aptly combine sceneries with residences. While sceneries feature beautiful mountains and waters, residences highlight rituality and order. Based on that, the architects incorporate such rituality and orderliness to the general layout drawing. At the central axis is the central garden of the estate, which features symmetries to underscore orderliness and magnificence. With the central axis as the core of the estate, the neighborhood spaces formed on the basis of the south-to-north layout of buildings are traditional lanes to facilitate communication and interaction. The pedestrian/vehicle separation on the housing estate also makes the lanes more secure and integral. 

The project consists of a majority of low-rise buildings and a small number of high-rises. While low-rise buildings feature sloping roofs, high-rises adopt flat roofs. The design of the entire construction incorporates traditional elements from the architectural style of the Republic of China, and looks neat, simple and symmetrical. Traditional architectural patterns are seen at architraves, railings and jambs.