Capital Park is an 86 ha big urban development project in Astana designed by INK Architects. The brief was to design a sustainable neighbourhood that emphasises pedestrian experience and provide amenities in the nearest vicinity to the residents. Moreover, this task was complicated by the environmental conditions that we turned into our advantage during the design stage of the project and won the competition.
The nuclei of Capital Park is the landscaped park with a lake and a hill, surrounded by recreational facilities. Conceptually, the central park represents Kazakhstan's three terrains: lakes, mountains, and forests that are absent around the city.
INK architects designed the outer rink of buildings taller to enclose the private quarters and create a walkable neighbourhood. The lake in the middle is also involved in creating chilly winds ventilating the building facades during the summer. It transforms into a skating park in cold seasons (winter may extend to the end of March-April). We have allocated one-third of the building site to green zones. The plantations and trees help to reduce the wind speeds and decrease the levels of noise pollution.
Alleys, boulevards, bicycle lanes, and running tracks are carefully designed regarding accessibility with the aspiration to reduce the necessity of cars. The location of the main boulevards and the park are intentional: long alleys are going to be a logical extension of existing main streets of the capital, and the park underlines the intersection of the central axes of the city. The retail facilities are located on the ground floors of the residential and office buildings. Nurseries and schools are provided within 300 and 500 meters radius from the residential buildings. Combination of this design decisions will positively influence one of the most significant modern city problems - commuting.
