This gate, situated at the shared entry plaza to the Park and garden itself, represents the commemorative arch that was so much a feature of the public architecture of traditional Chinese urban spaces, erected as monuments to mark the life of outstanding local figures. In this case, the gate is intended to represent the idea of friendship between all peoples, those of New Zealand and China in particular.

The composition of the entry space with the stone and concrete paved fore court, solitary elegant Prunus mume tree, silhouetted in front of the stone wall to Heaven’s well and framing the entry with a sheltering roof structure provides transition into the park and invitation into the garden.

Water, both running and still, is a vital element in any Chinese garden, as it is in life itself, of course. In the case of this pool, the name derives from a line from “The Sign of Virtue Complete” chapter of the great Taoist classic, The Book of Master Zhuang:“Confucius said, ‘Men do not mirror themselves in running water – they mirror themselves in still water”. The intention here is that this pool afford passersby the opportunity for quiet self-reflection. The Pool of Still Waters is a wide pool adjacent to the upper terrace lawn. The pool lies at the highest level, 3.5m above where the journey into the garden starts at the entry plaza.

On this upper level there is also proposed a pavilion with an adjacent paved terrace for seating and group activities. Sailing above this and gesturing out to the harbour is a folded roof that not only provides shelter but signals the garden from the Waterfront approach.

Heaven's Well is a courtyard, situated immediately within the entrance to the garden, represents that central feature of all traditional Chinese domestic architecture, the aperture that invited into the hidden and enclosed space of the home, the light and heat offered by the heavens above and which were vital for the continued and healthy life of the family within. The movement path through Heaven’s Well traces the symbol of the garden and recaptures dynamically and in miniature the overall shape of the garden in relation to the rest of the park. Framed views into the garden occur where the water feature enters the garden.

Movement along the Gallery for Calming the Waves affords shifting views of the Park, the harbour and the hills beyond. Its name derives from a line in a poem by the 1st century BCE poet Wang Bao which, in the words of an early commentator, “connoted peace under heaven”. Travelling up from ‘the Gallery’ and once up the stairs, the full view of the harbour is revealed from a covered sheltered apex at the eastern extents of the garden. The walls of the Gallery are precast with engraved trees branches and trunks, a reflection to the shelter tree planting beyond and reconfirmation of the integration of the garden with its wider setting within Frank Kitts Park.

Screens provide the separation from the Gallery to the ‘Chambers’. On the highest level the gallery adjoins two smaller gardens providing contemplative spaces with views out to the harbour and back across the garden, looking back where you have come from.
The exterior of the Gallery for Calming the Waves is a raked concrete wall with a generous stone base. The strata of heavy ‘earthing’ stone base, fine pale walls and a light protective roof structure is a composition comparable to the traditional structures from the Gardens of Southern China.