Epiwalk Lifestyle project redefine green space between Jakarta’s glass skyscraper. Focusing on reimagining a rigid retail frontage into a biophilic environment. Creating immersive spaces that soften movement and cultivating a community-oriented setting that enhances tenant activity and everyday well-being.
Located in the heart of Jakarta, Epicentrum Walk undergoes a transformation that redefines its relationship with nature
Located between Jakarta’s Kuningan district, Epicentrum Walk sits at the center of a dense urban fabric yet once lacked meaningful connection to nature. On just 0.4 hectares, the project reimagines a glass retail frontage into a biophilic environment where greenery, water, and movement shape a renewed identity for this commercial node.
The epiphyte-inspired language is quiet but expressive, redefining verticality through softness and living structure.
A daily path through shade and foliage provide calming and visual relief.
The challenge lay in designing generously within a setting that left little room to breathe
The site offered very little room to breathe. Every intervention had to negotiate existing structures, constrained spaces, and the realities of a functioning mall environment. Rooftop planters were carefully inserted between structural elements, while planting strategies had to adapt to narrow beds and microclimatic stress. Despite the limitations, Instead of erasing constraints, the design turned them into opportunities, using precision and restraint, the landscape was able to grow within the framework of what was already there
The project unfolds like a forest story, where buildings act as vertical ground for layers of life to take hold
Inspired by the layered ecology of tropical forests, the design treats existing buildings as host structures, like trees that support the growth of epiphytes. Climbing and cascading plants are embedded into vertical elements, allowing the architecture to become part of a living system. This concept is carried through three narrative threads: Nature, Water, and People. The Nature reveals itself in layers of foliage, texture, and spatial depth. The Water brings calm through sound and reflection, using water features to mirror the presence of natural streams. The People invites interaction, offering moments to dine in garden settings, walk beneath planted canopies, and explore curated pathways woven into a soft, green envelope.
Biophilic experiences unfold vertically across levels.
Throughout construction, the landscape evolved through mindful adaptation, responding to on-site conditions without losing coherence
The design evolved through on-site adaptation. Green wall systems were realigned with updated structural elements, while plant palettes shifted to match microclimates and ensure resilience. Planter detailing was refined for continuity, drainage, and performance. Even the water feature was reinterpreted from a dynamic flow to a still, reflective surface. Offering calm within the bustle of the mall. Each adjustment preserved design intent while accommodating construction realities, allowing the landscape to emerge as a coherent living system within a compact urban setting.
Once dominated by concrete, the space now breathes with green.
Strolling through the landscape offers softened sensory experience
Open zones create pockets of air and light, where greenery and movement flow together.
The project delivers impact not through scale, but through the quality of experience it creates
The project’s impact lies not in scale, but in the quality of experience it creates. What was once a rigid frontage of concrete now breathes with layered greenery, transforming circulation into shaded, sensory movement. Visitors pause in garden-like settings, walk beneath softened vertical structures, and find moments of calm within the city’s intensity. The redesign has reshaped Epicentrum Walk from a purely transactional space into a place of identity and community. Beyond aesthetics, the landscape supports social interaction, enhances tenant activity, and contributes to everyday well-being. It demonstrates how even the tightest urban sites can evolve into living, biophilic environments. Proving that nature can be woven into the fabric of commerce to strengthen both ecology and human experience.
Redefining verticality through softness and living structure around.
