CADG’s Green Architecture Design & Research Institute completed a 29,215 m² community complex in Haikou that organizes cultural, sports, and training programs around a "Tree of Life" concept and an "Ecological Settlement" model for hot, humid coastal conditions.
Design prioritizes climate response: the project is conceived as an "Ecological Settlement" to suit Haikou’s hot, humid coastal climate and aims for low-carbon operation.
Mixed public programs: the facility consolidates cultural, sports, and vocational training functions into a single community-oriented complex.
Site and scale: 29,215 m² project delivered in 2025 for the Haikou Federation of Trade Unions by CADG’s Green Architecture Design & Research Institute.
Located on Hainan Island, the Haikou Workers' Activity Center (Workers' Cultural Palace) was completed in 2025. The client is the Haikou Federation of Trade Unions. The lead design office is the Green Architecture Design & Research Institute of CADG, with Liu Heng named as lead architect. The complex covers 29,215 m² and brings cultural, sports, and training programs together under a single civic campus.
The architects describe the master concept as "Tree of Life," organized as an "Ecological Settlement." That framing guided the layout, program adjacency, and environmental strategies so the complex reads as an urban oasis rather than a conventional civic box. Program consolidation aims to increase day-long activation—spaces for community events, sports, cultural activities, and vocational training are combined within the same campus.
Haikou's hot, humid coastal climate framed the project's performance goals. Design and consulting teams included CADG specialists in green building and ecological landscape construction. The published description emphasizes climate-responsiveness and low-carbon operation as guiding priorities for materials, systems, and site planning.
CADG assembled a large, multidisciplinary team: architectural designers, structural engineers, MEP engineers, landscape designers (Ecological Landscape Construction & Research Institute of CADG), interior designers, and green building consultants. Photographic documentation is credited to Schran Image and Ji Li.
What the project means for the neighbourhood
The architects present the complex as a community-oriented hub intended to act as an urban oasis. By combining cultural, sports, and training uses, the center is positioned to serve multiple user groups across different times of day and levels of activity. The ecological approach implies a stronger emphasis on local climate adaptation and energy performance than a typical civic project of this scale.
Published imagery and the project description show an emphasis on landscape integration and campus-like organization rather than a single monumental building. The language used—"Tree of Life" and "Ecological Settlement"—signals a distributed cluster of buildings and open spaces designed to promote microclimate control and social interaction.
The available description lists key consultants and the project area, the completion year, and the conceptual framing. Detailed technical data—specific material choices, embodied-carbon figures, HVAC strategies, energy use intensity, cost, or operational performance metrics—are not included in the supplied summary.
Why this project matters to practitioners and communities
For designers and municipal clients working in hot, humid coastal cities, the Haikou Workers' Activity Center provides a recent example of a civic campus that integrates programming with climate-first site and landscape strategies. For local users, the consolidated cultural-sports-training model promises a single, accessible destination for a range of community services.
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