cascading staircase threads through sunken courtyard by TROP at shanghai residence

TROP weaves sculptural courtyard into shanghai houses

In the heart of Shanghai’s Yanlord Arcadia residential complex, Pok Kobkongsanti of TROP: terrains + open space introduces Lacy Steps Garden, a nine-meter-deep sunken courtyard that serves as a sculptural landmark and a communal living space. The project becomes a ‘living core’ that connects homes, amenities, and nature across three levels.

The entire design pivots around a fluid geometric composition, anchored by a cascading staircase that stitches together the basement, ground, and second floors. As users descend, they encounter a series of unfolding scenes, including a badminton court, a swimming pool, and a tea room tucked into a shaded niche. Ascending leads to a sun-filled gym and a softly lit community library. 

all images by Chill Shine, Jayda, Yuting Lu

metal mesh facade shields Lacy Steps Garden

The distinctive metal mesh facade of Lacy Steps Garden functions like a veil, draping the void with an airy transparency. Permeable and refined, it welcomes sunlight and rain, nurturing the lush area below while diffusing glare and hard edges. Through this mesh, the landscape design team at TROP: terrains + open space echoes the language of the surrounding architecture, fostering a visual continuity between building and landscape, inside and out.

The central platform, part amphitheater, part terrace, offers a flexible stage for everyday life. Its sculpted steps and built-in seating invite a range of informal activities, from morning tai chi to impromptu performances or quiet reading. Here, architecture offers a framework for spontaneity and community, where social interaction and solitude coexist. Even the railing’s curvature is fine-tuned for comfort, transforming infrastructure into intimate experience.

At a time when private residential developments often default to decorative greenery or isolated pockets of open space, Lacy Steps Garden offers a different proposition with its sculpted landscape that operates as infrastructure, atmosphere, and social condenser.

TROP: terrains + open space introduces Lacy Steps Garden

the nine-meter-deep sunken courtyard serves as a sculptural landmark and a communal living space

the project connects homes, amenities, and nature across three levels

as users descend, they encounter a series of unfolding scenes

the central platform, part amphitheater, part terrace, offers a flexible stage for everyday life

architecture offers a framework for spontaneity and community

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plan | drawings by TROP: terrains + open space

plan

diagram

name: Yanlord Arcadia – Lacy Steps

architect: TROP: terrains + open space | @trop_terrains_openspace

location: Shanghai, China

design director: Pok Kobkongsanti

team: Fusang Ren, Kehan Zhou, Huamei Yin, Siyi Lu, Yuting Lu, Guo He, Pengtao Sang, Ke Ma

client (Party A): Shanghai Yanlord Land

construction drawings: Weimar Group

landscape contractor: Suzhou Fengde Landscape Architecture Engineering Co., Ltd.