Penfold Park
80,000 sqm | Hong Kong
SCENIC delivered comprehensive landscape architectural services for the refurbishment of Penfold Park and the integration of the new Equestrian Centre (Pony World) within the Sha Tin Racecourse infield. The scope encompassed full-lifecycle delivery from strategic planning through construction contract administration, including conceptual and detailed design harmonising public park typologies with specialised equestrian infrastructure and a comprehensive engineering review of the drainage for the adjacent racecourse, formulation of the Landscape Master Plan (LMP) to discharge Section 16 conditions, and Tree Preservation and Removal Proposals (TPRP).
Upgrades include an enhanced entrance experience, Ficus Circle, dedicated Pet Zone, butterfly garden, sensory garden, enhanced children’s play zone, horse grazing field, performance space, covered seating, and modernised amenities. These features embody principles of inclusive placemaking and accessibility for families, school groups, pet owners, and diverse users. The design fosters experiential immersion—education, interaction, and recreation—while full-lifecycle strategies, from Landscape Master Plan through operational management plans, ensure long-term sustainability, adaptive resilience, and high-quality asset performance in this iconic urban park setting.
The park's contemporary design features sweeping, fluid lawns and shrub beds and curving pathways that seamlessly wrap around the landscape to create a modern, harmonious public space.
The landscape design draws on contemporary park design theory, prioritising multifunctional hybridity, ecological resilience, inclusive experiential landscapes, and soft contextual integration. Expansive public green spaces—functioning as a “green oasis” for local residents and major egret habitat—are seamlessly interwoven with the specialised Equine Experience Centre through low-rise, scattered, predominantly open-sided pavilion structures that preserve visual and spatial permeability to the surrounding lawns, pathways, and racecourse. Soft landscape-defined boundaries (planting, natural fencing, and graded transitions) maintain the park’s holistic character while enabling safe, delineated operation of stables, activity pavilions, mounting and riding areas, and photo zones. Tree retention was paramount and formed the framework for the creation of an integrated network of spaces and spatial hierarchies.
Pony World serves as a vibrant public educational hub where interactive family spaces and open pavilions foster immersive learning and community engagement with equine culture.
