Guiyang Super High-rise Complex

In 2019, Guiyang officially started promoting itself as a “consumer paradise” by introducing high-end consumer brands such as Galeries Lafayette and cultivating high-end consumption. It’s in this favorable context that the super six-star hotel brand of Wanda Group, Wanda Reign, joined hands with SKP to enter Guiyang.

The project site is located at the intersection between Renmin Avenue and Huanchen Road (N) in Yunyan District, which is a well-developed area in Guiyang with convenient transportation and excellent supporting facilities. Close to Qianling Park, the region enjoys a wonderful natural landscape dominated by Qianling Mountain, the most famous mountain in the south of Guizhou. A tower is to rise in this setting, hosting high-end businesses, 5A class office spaces, and a six-star hotel by Wanda Reign. RhineScheme proposed two schemes for the facade design, taking into consideration overall aesthetics and economic benefits.

High-end business + 5A office + six-star hotel model:

With a total height of 300 meters, this super high-rise building with flexible facade modeling will become the highest one in the old town. However, the large office area will add some pressure on the future operation.

Scheme 1:

Guizhou is one of the main growing areas of orchids in China, and the orchid is the official city flower of Guiyang. Orchids are not blooming together with other flowers. The facade scheme shows the graceful lines of orchids and the natural upward growth posture. Seen from the main line, the building is like an elegant orchid, stretching smoothly and standing gracefully. The top of the building is shaped by orchid petals, and the center is like a blooming stamen. Integrated with the lighting design at night, the building outshines others on the top of Guiyang.

When it comes to Guiyang, green mountains and beautiful water are the necessary theme. Unlike ordinary streams, waterfalls pour down from high mountains and stand out from others. The streamline of the building facade is like rushing water of waterfalls, pouring down from a high source. The top floor of the 300-meter building is the lobby bar of Wanda Reign, which is more in line with the concept of “the top of the mountain, the source of water”. Shining brightly over the city, it is just like the crown of the city.

Changchun Hotel Complex

Option 1

Option 1 takes inspiration on the arch as one of the most classical western architectural elements. Starting from the traditional composition of arcades as seen in palaces and aqueducts, it then experiments and plays with rhythm and proportion to translate those characteristics into a contemporary language. The theme of the arch unifies the three proposal areas, giving continuity to Hotel, Conference Center, and Commercial Village allowing it to be understood as one building complex. Nonetheless, variations are powerful enough to bring forth a particular character and brand to each section, making them stand out on their own.

In the Hotel, the softness of the curve brings elegance into the composition, as it visually reduces the weight of the building, making it seem slender and lighter. Almost as an architectural skin, the arcade works as a unifying element that conceals the complexity and variety of uses and presents a harmonious front. The clear readable language creates a powerful image and identity to the building, easily recognizable in the urban context. Light gray stone is the main envisioned material for the arcade as the outer skin, while internally, a semi-independent inner skin of curtain wall alternates metal and glass elements in different patterns and dispositions to adapt to the internal spaces and create a dialogue with the external façade.

The lobby is the main space of the building and is defined by a path of monumental arches that rise to 20 meters high at the geometrical center of the hotel. These arches emphasize the symmetric disposition of the building and frame the view of the park, bringing nature into the space. The whole volume of the Hotel rests over a 6-meter high podium that conceals the parking and main service areas from the public with an entrance garden that also distances the guest areas from the main street.

The Conference Center introduces weight in the proposal, having an imposing presence over the public areas on the north part of the plot and marking the start of the complex. It is built by two volumes: a clear, lighter, and open one, versus a heavier, darker and more enclosed one. Consistently, the first contains the entry hall and related facilities, managing the access and the relationship with the hotel. Meanwhile, the second volume encloses the ballroom and multifunctional rooms with a thick metallic façade and few, but big and visually artistic openings, which facilitate the multifunctional character of the internal spaces. The color and texture of the metallic elements here, contrast and dominate over the clear grays of the entry volume, giving it a particular presence.

For the Commercial Village, the arcade experimentation takes a more human scale as it adapts to smaller and more intimate spaces. This area borrows the materiality of both hotel and Convention Center for the sake of continuity, but applies it in more playful and diverse ways, with new forms and denser rhythms. With building connections at different levels, the shop’s smaller volumes allow for the creation of more sheltered multileveled open spaces, which favor mobility and expand prime retail façade areas.

The three proposal areas work as a unity, with this similar aesthetic derived from the theme of arches, and materiality of light grey stone, reddish metal, and glaze. But they work as well as individual architectural pieces with unique characters that provide different spatial experiences and imagery, consistent with their intended uses and context. In this way, the complex creates interest through novelty, without losing formal unity.

Option 2

The architectural direction taken on option 2 puts a relevant accent on the relationship between antique 19th century building style and modern contemporary building style. It reminds to the history of the city, suggested by the presence of antique buildings made on the 19th century and modern facade languages developed on 20th century. Following this inspiration, the hotel body is clearly divided in two main parts, emphasizing through the division of the two parts the horizontal direction of the building. The podium part reminds the antique classical style and the top part recollects the modern. The podium part, which features the classical language of the building, is made on three levels characterized on the ground floor by big glazed openings interspersed by vertical pelmets while the second and third floors are characterized by the successions of windows spaced by double columns and vertical pelmets on the façade. Its material, a white marble, follows the traditional whitish appearance of classical facades. The modern part is clearly detached from the classical part by a setback, giving space to a generous terrace at that level.

The ballroom and the commercial building carry a modern language on their facades. While on the right the ballroom building, a 16 meters high volume, follows the modern language of the hotel building featuring a simpler façade style, the four-level mall building, distinguish itself with the articulation of various volumes that create two internal courtyards. The facades are characterized by white plastered boxes spaced with fully glazed setback parts and dark grey string courses on horizontal direction. The podium is made with grey stone and large glazed openings to clearly detach the levels above, giving a sense of suspension to the entire commercial building.

Option 3

The architectural style applied for this option of the hotel and commercial center find its roots on modern tradition, inspired by the history of the city in the 20th century. The façade styles are characterized by a sober approach using a clear and distinct configuration for each part of the building complex. Key element of the project is the round arch while the main material is the yellow Atlantis marble, to give a slight warm touch to the façade. As the modern architectural tradition referred also to classical tradition, the hotel façade is interpreting a classic layout scheme, marked by a triple volume division on its main body. Through windows disposition setback the intention is to emphasize the vertical direction so to slender the façade itself. In order to both ease the building mass, the last floors have a fresh contemporary appearance, stepped back and made by glass and anodized aluminum, emphasizing the horizontal direction. Another remarkable touch of contemporary design is made by the public staircase that connects the hotel entrance to the road below.

Beside the hotel body, the ballroom building is characterized by a 16 meters tall volume where the façade encompasses a sequence of arches of two different dimension. Characterized by a minimal modern approach the design is enhanced by a special connection of the arches on the corners, so to give the façade a contemporary fresh touch. In a similar way the façade of the commercial building on the left side of the hotel is composed, using the arch elements all around on two levels.

On its last level this commercial part is crowned by glazed volumes that can host mainly restaurants and bars, so to appreciate the view of the dense green areas nearby the hotel premises.

Maritim Hotel Mauritius

Mauritius extends along the Maritime Silk Road, so there is great potential for cooperation between Chinese enterprises and superior brands of various countries under the framework of reciprocity and mutual benefit. The planned new hotel project will be located in Jinfei Economic and Trade Cooperation Park, three kilometers to the north of Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. A luxury hotel consisting of 156 guest rooms and a serviced apartment are located between the two tower buildings connected by 60 meters long immense swimming pool corridor. With new and classic design, advanced and environmental friendly facilities, rigorous and comprehensive management, it will become the most popular serviced apartment on the island and the most desirable business and leisure place for guests. The overall space interior style of the hotel combines neoclassical style, Mauritius sea view and western contemporary cultural style, forming a contemporary light luxury style.

‘Love Island’ Changde

The business concept aims at a vivid inner-city district with multifunctional 24/7 uses in all floor levels – the mere opposite of any sort of Potemkin village that is dead after 6pm and above ground floor.
In contrast to the neighbouring ‘German Street’, the ‘Love’ theme suggested a more Latin inspired architecture with the warm atmosphere of the Mediterranean in the language of buildings, in colours, materials, open space design and landscape.

Size and location of the site inspired the proposal of a distinct urban structure of South-European character. European architecture from different epochs creates the atmosphere of a Mediterranean town, with small streets and alleys and a central plaza, and an overall flexible structure that can adequately host different functions.

The site with the Chuanzi River running in the south provides a unique and very valuable landscape with outstanding views toward the river, and also views from the river to the site. This feature is advantageous for restaurants and hotels, for water events and sport activities. For the opposite riverside and neighbouring residential areas it provides high-quality living adjacent to the water and to recreational areas. Last not least, the riverside park is extremely valuable for photo-shooting and hosting special events, here with a special focus on wedding or engagement celebrations.

A user-oriented concept: People and love

The project’s success lies on attracting the biggest possible variety of users: Young and old families, couples and singles, well educated & culturally interested people, or simply curious visitors with the wish to immerge into a foreign world to find distraction.
Why will people come? Who will come, and what will they do?
• People meeting people: Whether coming alone or with some friends, this is the right place to meet a special someone and fall in love.
• Couples in love: Young couples or older ones can enjoy a variety of activities while getting the chance to know each other even better or re-kindle their love
• Engagement: To propose to a loved person, ‘Love Island’ can guarantee the most romantic sceneries and events for a great surprise.
• Getting married: For a special and planned wedding the area provides various options for each couple and their families, for the preparations and for the day of marriage. Last not least by having ceremonies in opulent and exotic banquet halls with splendid river views and romantic Renaissance gardens in front.
• Families, neighbours and residents: Everyone in the surrounding areas will feel very welcomed to come and spend a nice day in family due to the countless fun activities available

The aim is to have non-stop day & night use during all seasons (24/7/365)
• Eating & drinking (catering): With facilities for day & night use, with close connection to European culture, theme restaurants, specialties restaurants from different countries, gourmet and typical (fast) food restaurants, bars, cafés, ice-cream parlours and juice shops.
• Outdoor activities: Renting shops for roller skaters, segways, tandem bicycles, paddle boats, canoes. Relaxing in the park, photo shooting. Seasonal markets like Christmas market, fish market, autumn fruit market, Easter market, flower market. European (national) festivals or events, like French wine festival. Cultural events like annual open air concerts (pop music in spring, classical music in autumn), shows, theatre, dancing or acrobatic festivals. All kinds of water sports or activities combined with water
• Indoor activities: Museum, cinema, speed-dating place, KTV, amusement arcades. Roman bath, wellness, spa, beauty salons. Wedding-related services like ceremony facilities, dancing school, photography studios, travel agencies.
• Shopping: All kinds of shops related with weddings (fashion, jewelry), food specialties shops (wines, bakery, chocolates). Wedding related arts and crafts from European countries.
• Hotels: Honeymoon hotel; small boutique hotels with at least 5 star standard

Urban and landscape structure

The masterplan proposes a playful arrangement with denser and less dense structures. The urban pattern develops different kinds of open spaces, yards and atriums, public squares and enclosed garden courtyards, with different degree of privacy, furthermore landscape-like gardens towards the river. The area features winding alleys with an intimate village-like atmosphere, and a big central plaza with the most representative buildings, suitable for hosting the main events and celebrations.
The church is the core and focal point of the development and its campanile is the outstanding landmark that can be seen from almost any location surrounding.

The overall urban character is romantic, elegant and relaxing.
Since one of the most important commercial concepts is wedding photography, all buildings and open spaces have been designed to serve as outstanding sets for outdoor photo-shooting.
All buildings have 2-4 levels, and towards the river, elegant and eye-catching facades.

The structural arrangement ensures that density, volume and fragmentation of the buildings are diversified according to the different functions that they occupy.
The circulation system of the site is a dense net of walkways with different hierarchies. The structure is highly permeable. Many passages run through the site in north-south-direction. With an additional landscape-axis, the waterfront and the park are connected with the urban hinterland.
A main walkway runs through the area from west to east, ending in the main plaza and focusing on the Bell Tower.
The main square also contains the main gate towards the complex, thus becoming the main articulator of all circulations.

The church is the iconic building in the main plaza and is, with its apse, directly related to the river landscape. A large lawn (with small groups of trees) surrounds the church and opens towards the river for outside activities.
With a long flight of steps the green area gently slopes down to the water and provides nice views over the riverside park, which includes groups of palm trees reminding of the Mediterranean.
In the other direction the open lawn allows good views to the church and the preeminent Bell Tower.

The required parking lots are mostly arranged under the elevated platform of the lawn. Additional surface parking space is available near the main entrance and the hotels.

Architecture

The design style is Mediterranean and Southern European, comprising stylistic and typological references from Spain, Italy, France and Portugal.
The aim was to achieve a charming mixture of simple and elegant buildings in a combination of different styles and epochs, which also inspire the thematic flavour of the private gardens. One of the rare instructions from the investor and operator was to focus on styles predating the 20th century; nonetheless some modernist or clearly contemporary buildings are included to create a more authentic and less artificial atmosphere.

The materials used for facades are mainly plaster, in Mediterranean pastel colours and textures, mixed with grey or beige colour natural stones and red clay roof tiles.
Facades are symmetrical, hierarchical, repetitive surrounding the main plaza and facing the river; they are more random along the smaller alleys, imitating a quasi naturally grown town quarter.
Main architectural design elements are arcades, balconies with metal railings, stone window frames, friezes and roof mouldings, columns and arches, terraces, pergolas and garden colonnades, as well as pavements and vaulted arcade ceilings.
Additionally, the overall lighting design and signage complete the comprehensive European style, as well as the careful and sensitive landscape design by LML, Berlin.

The secularized church – hosting a theatre-like multi-functional event space and named “Florentine Hall” – is the central element of ‘Love Island’, in architecture and in its immediate creation of urbanity. Its transitional location creates two totally different aspects. On one side we find the typical urban arrangement with a regular church-square and the irregular “village” behind. On the other (back-) side is the church surrounded by a vast lawn which gives an almost rural, countryside-like character.

Areas and typologies

• The  “S p a n i s h   v i l l a g e” (A10-A15): Inspired in traditional Spanish or Italian small towns, this area creates a small village with main and secondary alleys, passages, bridges connecting buildings over the street, with enchanted roof terraces and a small intimate plaza, ‘Piazza Cupido’.
• The  “I t a l i a n  P i a z z a” (A4-A9, A16): Inspired in the main squares of notable Italian cities such as Venice and Florence, the ‘Piazza del Primo Bacio’ hosts buildings for high class restaurants, shops and hotels.
The buildings are inspired in a mix of civic Italian and Spanish renaissance palaces, the church – in its main façade – by ‘Santa Maria della Croce’ in Florence, the Bell Tower by that in Rovinj in Croatia. Furthermore two expressions of modern architecture (A4, A8) can be found, the latter inspired in the ‘Palazzo da Civilità Italiana’ of the early modern movement in Rome. An urban colonnade flanks the sides of the plaza and includes the main gate to the compound, in the shape of a colonnade with fountain.
• The  “R u r a l  P a l a c e s” (A1, A2, A3): This group of three buildings meant to host wedding banquets and celebrations, are inspired in traditional rural palace architecture from France, Italy and Portugal. Each has its own private garden for outdoor celebrations, with richly ornamented landscape, enclosed and protected by a colonnade.
• The  “L o v e  M u s e u m” (A0): Finally, this piece of contemporary architectural design is meant to be a landmark on the river, visible from all adjoining waterfronts. It establishes an axial relation with the bell tower of the church, in close relation with the water and harmonious integration into the landscape of the park.
The architecture is modern, with light coloured steel and transparent glass as main materials. The building’s shape is a composition of two intertwined wedding rings, with a sculptural diamond in the center. Both rings create a continuous exhibition space, a linear exhibition that becomes a loop. The rings are interconnected to create continuity between inside and outside, indoor exhibition, outdoor exhibition and riverside terrace.
In the center: the Diamond, a glass-clad sculptural platform for multimedia exhibition.

Neijiang Cultural Tourism Town

Hanan Lake 

The Han’an Lake will contribute to the cities green lung and serve as urban gateway to enhance the image of the city.

Urban leisure projects such as trails and summer camps around the lake will enhance the value of the whole plot and a variety of water sports are set up; various events are held through the year to enhance the attractiveness of the project, inviting people to linger.

 

“Night Neijiang” Commercial Town 

The commercial buildings of the 1.5-kilometer-long town stretch around Han’an Lake and combine historical- with contemporary-culture.

One- and two-story commercial buildings with shop-front and terraces are main typologies, connecting the five landscape plazas of the town. Eight key buildings are positioned in proximity to the plazas and entrances to provide urban readability and tourism nodes. The town exudes a young and fashionable flair, relating to traditional Sichuan styles and blending it with modern elements; Modern materials merge with traditional sloping-roof alleys to create vibrant retail spaces with high recognition value.

 

Daqian Memorial Hall 

Located at the main entrance of the town, the facility carries the most important cultural value, related to the painter ‘Zhang Daqian‘. The whole building is stretched, coiled down and ascending again, and the natural flow line shows the form of a landscape painting, stretching smoothly, and creating a place with the artistic connotation of a dialogue between landscape and water.

 

Bamboo Forest Secret – Floating Restaurant

The wooden houses, hovering over the water, are a reminder of traditional local pastoral life, spreading a warm atmosphere. The combination of water, wooden houses and bamboo forests constitutes an ideal mood and invite tourists to linger.

 

Brick Castle – Sports Park

Colorful “building blocks” overlap each other and move layer by layer to form the basic architectural form, which is stimulating and dynamic, and is associated with the theme “sports”. The diamond-like shape of the entrance is combined with glass to make it even more unique.

 

Reflecting the Moon – Waterfall Restaurant

As the most important building along the center of Han’an Lake, the waterfall restaurant is inspired by the moon, creating the waterfall restaurant itself as the iconic landscape of the square.

 

Breeze blowing willow-Han’an Palace

Through the sculptural volume, combined with the flexible and smooth facade design, the palace conveys a uniquely romantic atmosphere of a banquet venue; The free-form is dancing in the wind like a swinging willow branch, silky and flexible, located in the center of the town like a piece of art;

 

Summer Sweetheart – Children’s Paradise

The building façade with unidirectional folding and mass interspersion is combined with rich color and glass material to increase the building iconographical appearance. The superposition of different sizes of spaces creates different spatial openness and enriches the experience, especially for the young visitors.

 

Sweet City Memory – Cinema

The restored cinema part is quite stylish, and the classical style column and gable restore the life of the former Neijiang. New buildings emerge from the “old buildings” while the sweet city seal is remembered to continue and pass on. With the classical French style of architecture and modern and simple metal glass material, Neijiang memory has been reborn in the collision between the old and the new.

 

The play box – a comprehensive cultural entertainment hall

The comprehensive cultural entertainment hall is inspired by the combination of vintage industrial facilities with modern design elements of urban renewal.

The crude façade materials and the simple modernist approach, supported by interspersed volumes, bright colors and sharp contrasts, gives the building the characteristics and energy of an entertainment culture.

Wanda Chaozhou Hotel Group

The project is located in the Xiangqiao District of Chaozhou, about 10 km away from the city center. The site is flat, surrounded by fish ponds, with Nanshan Mountain to the South, and close to the Pingxi River. It is an ideal location for the development of a resort. The resort building compound includes a conference center, super five-star hotel, four-star theme hotel, boutique hotel, and a performance center.

Dujiangyan Hotel Complex

A mere 5 minutes’ drive from the hotel group is Duwen Expressway (S9), the link between Sichuan and Tibet tourist attractions, such as Wolong Nature Reserve, Wenchuan County and Mount Siguniang. The project is the last upscale hotel group on the route to Tibet.
The project is located in the south of Dujiangyan, the famous town of longevity and a well-known tourist destination, especially famous for its over 2,200 years old irrigation system. The hotel complex borders the big Min River, the longest tributary of the Yangtze in the east and Zhaogong Mountain in the west. ‘Black Rock River’ in the east of the site divides the site into two blocks from north to south. In addition to these existing water bodies, the Client plans to excavate 7.5 hectares of artificial lakes inside the site to further improve the environmental level.

The building blocks of the hotel group are developed along the perimeter of the site with artificial lakes inside. The lobby of the Six Star Hotel is located in the southeastern corner. Visitors standing in the lobby can see the lake and overlook the Zhaogong Mountain.
The villas are extended northward. Using the terrain and the lake, all the villas have good views. The five-star hotel and theme hotel are located at the southwest corner of the site, using the boundaries of the Black Rock River to enclose their respective interior landscapes.

6 Star Hotel
The Six Star Hotel covers an area of about 11 hectares with a total of 90 villas. The inspiration for the hotel design is the West Sichuan Palace hidden in a bamboo forest by the river. The building materials in western Sichuan are mainly wood, limestone, gray brick and gray tile, presenting a simple texture and natural beauty. Traditional materials and structures have been incorporated into the design of the hotel lobby, and have been changed, reorganized and renewed to the greatest extent, retaining the shape and meaning of the traditional local architecture. Furthermore, we fell back on the skills of gardening in Western Sichuan, and used the methods of “suppressing” and “leaking” to expand the space experience of the guests.
The villas all have outdoor hot springs. Taking advantage of the height difference of the terrain, guests can enjoy the view of the artificial lake or the Minjiang River from the outdoor pool, while ensuring the privacy of the villa.

Spa Complex
The Spa is located between the five-star hotel and the theme hotel, with a separate external entrance and access from both hotels through a corridor. The total area is 1,800 square meters, and it is equipped with 7 outdoor pools of 2,000 square meters.
In the façade design, the spa takes reference of the traditional forms and materials of Western Sichuan. But in order to create a more relaxed atmosphere, more civilian structures have been adopted, such as the “ChuanDou” structure or the “supporting arch”.

5 Star Hotel
The five star hotel with 300 guestrooms has a privileged situation with its proximity to Heishi River on the East and its location right beside the big lake.
Based on traditional Sichuan architecture (‘Chuanxi’ style), the base of the building – which usually is the noble one, hence accommodates the public functions of the hotel – is clad with stone with carvings that resemble flowing water – as reference to the local culture with its millenniums of history of water management.
The main body – where the guest rooms are located – is designed to convey a town-like atmosphere where several buildings are attached to each other with different heights, in order to break the horizontality of the building and create a certain random rhythm.
The balconies combine white plaster and wooden details in order to create a local feeling but in a rather modern way. The grey clay-tile roofs seem to be floating from above the building and then hold by the elaborated wooden structure.
The main entrance of the hotel is emphasized by placing two vast, abstract interpretations of traditional Chinese lanterns on both sides. During the night there will be a special effect created by a perforated brick wall that will cast distinct patterns on the street when lit from behind.
The five star hotel is characterized by simple and elegant details. Different combinations of the same materials are used to obtain ‘unity in diversity’, as the key for consistency and excellence.

4 Star Theme Hotel
The building is neighbouring the five star hotel on its north side, Heishi River to the east and the huge ‘Wanda Entertainment Park’ on the opposite side of the road, towards south.
Due to the existence of several panda research and preservation parks in the city of Chengdu (which is only 55 km away), the ‘world of pandas’ was chosen as a theme for the hotel. The design approach had families with small children as main target. As common feature with theme hotels, the main goal is to achieve an immediate feeling from the building and façade itself suggesting a certain level of playfulness. Guests will be able to feel the ‘world of pandas’ not only from the elements of the landscape but from the building as well, which stands out as the icon of panda life.
As we approach the hotel from the road, a 6-storey, organic-shaped building features a composition that reminds us of several pandas standing or laying down. Panda faces and bodies defined by a white background with dark grey spots and shapes, and those hanging from the bamboo base and hiding between the bamboo forests of the vertical cores, give us the feeling of a natural panda habitat welcoming the guests.
On the ground floor large framed windows step out from the façade to define the main public areas of the Hotel.
The building has four main parts with an undulating façade that open towards the river and the lake behind in ordered to optimize the views from the guest rooms. The undulating gesture allows enclosing a garden that gives privacy and distance from the road. The 461 guestrooms have balconies that project towards the water side or to the mountain side making the hotel special not only for its theme, but also for its splendid views of a great location.

Bar Street
Dujiangyan has not only a long history, but also colourful architectural forms and styles.
In the design of the ‘Bar Street’, the architectural concept was to blend Chinese and Western traditions and to blend the ancient and the modern: Traditional Sichuan architecture (offering traditional Chinese food or accommodating classical tea houses) is mixed with Republican style (1912-1949) and modern architecture (offering Western food and bars) as well as “new Chinese style” (offering modern Chinese food) in a harmonious way. Blending the different styles brings a whole new urban experience.
In the landscape design, local traditions have been adapted, myths and legends are combined with landscape elements and with the architectural design, further blurring the boundaries between time and space and function.

Hainan Begonia Bay Resort

  • ‘Darentang Resort Village’ (Plots A+B): The two biggest plots stretching along the beach host a five star resort village with two hotel buildings ( tot. 416 keys) and 161 holiday villas in five different sizes from 99 to 476 m². The two plots are separated along a green promenade leading to the beach.
  • Commercial Service Centre (plot C): It takes the remaining part of the beach, with outdoor covered public facilities that also serve the seaside resort, including the functions of swimming, diving, and other water activities, restaurants, bars, shops, and parking facilities.
  • ‘Houhai Fisher Area’ (plot D): The existing fisher area along the mouth of ‘Tielugang’ side-bay is providing convenience for fishing business, typhoon shelter, and floating seafood restaurants, but currently in a mass and in bad conditions. After planning and design, the plot will become a scenic spot for tourists to experience life and work of fishermen; tourists are planned to have original, ecological seafood in rows of typical local fishermen’s boats, meanwhile the Houhai villagers have the opportunity to get a catering business with independent property right. They can rent out or transfer their houses/boats.
  • ‘Houhai Fascinating Town’ (plot E): A resettlement area for the locally removed residents called has been planned, with tot. 362 houses, educational facilities and commercial areas to provide an additional source of income for the residents.

As opposed to the busier ‘Yalong Bay’, ‘Begonia Bay’ has been reserved as an alternate land for urban development, featuring beautiful scenery, the absence of urban noise, and an excellent location regarding overall resources and environment.
Located at the main point of Haitang Bay, the so-called “Houhai Golden Bay”, the planned resort’s health program has been selected by the municipal government from worldwide top Chinese medicine health-preserving resort projects.
As seaside tourist city, Sanya has a large concentration of leisure resorts, but few health-themed ones. The planning concept makes use of the advantageous environmental resources in order to create a competitive property with healthy leisure experience for people.

The five star hotels will be managed by a professional Chinese Medicine team of the investing Tianjin Medicine Group. Hotel functions include guest rooms mainly for high-end customers to spend vacations, providing medical baths, healthy sleep, etc., Chinese restaurants serving herbal cuisine etc., and a spacious SPA including health diagnosis and treatment area, acupuncture moxibustion, medication area, and massage area.

Both in East and West, humans have always been committed to the pursuit of harmonious relations between themselves and their natural environment and developed their distinct theories about the connection between both. China has a long cultural history of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practice and health treatments. This Eastern wisdom is unique, broad and profound. Chinese medicine stresses the concept of the whole, with a dialectical attitude towards the human body itself and the balance between man and nature. Chinese medical scientists are working to find the link between body and nature. Whether in the medical or in the architectural field, ancient peoples have developed vast experience in research and practice.
Chinese medicine theories of “organic naturalism” have developed a concept of “Heaven and Man” that fits well with the desire of people to pursuit a healthy life-style.

Combining the existing environmental advantages with an overall planning strategy, the design considers health and leisure together, and combines human activities with natural scenery. Two guidelines have been developed: The functional planning proposes an integrated industry with vacation, leisure, wellness and medical treatment functions. Secondly, regarding the landscape planning, TCM health elements have been integrated, whereas the landscape fully serves recreational functions and uses the splendid natural scenery.

Dalian Mining Pit Hotel

Some of these quarries were built close to the ports and the city. The project site is one of those mining pits, finally engulfed by the rapid urban expansion.
Therefore, the governmental plan to integrate the site into the city determined the implantation of endogenous vegetation by restoring the topsoil, transforming the site into a natural public park, with supplementary tourist attractions and – consequently – hospitality facilities.

The hotel stands on the north slope of the pit, facing south. The building is conceived as an interpretation of the natural stone sediments. Thus, the geometry of the building follows the shape and composition of the original dolomite limestone of the site. The formal language of the building is based on simple block shapes with natural and neutral materials which rather than presenting a contrast, aim to enhance the landscape.
The building has two premises defining the block configuration. The first was to connect the city’s street level with the lowest pit level; therefore, considering the 60 meter difference, the hotel has a direct vertical connection. The second premise was to actively integrate the landscape with the building, having private landscape areas and areas connected to the public park. Hence, three blocks are inserted parallel to the topography to connect the terraces to the landscape, and two blocks are perpendicular and detached to the terrain allowing the public landscape to pass through.

The perpendicularly overlapped blocks are connected by a core containing the vertical circulation for both services and users. The upper block includes all the primary public uses while the lower blocks contain the guestrooms, and 3 secondary blocks merged with the topography contain additional recreational uses.
The building integrates environmental strategies such as: winter gardens placed at the back corridors of the guestroom blocks, allowing air flow and sunlight throughout the day while regulating the temperature of the blocks. A double façade system based on louvers controls the solar gains in the public volumes with sun-exposed facades.

Yantai Korean Town Hotel

In the planned start-up area, a hotel, a commercial street and a low-rise residential complex are the main elements, as initial investment that will provide a base for development and business attraction.
The very first building to be constructed will be the “Hua’an Hotel”, thus serving as urban 5 star business hotel, fully equipped to support the growth of the area. Given the position on site, next to the estuary with views towards the sea and the mountains, it should also function as a tourist hotel. The challenge was to create a hotel that could answer to both functions, whilst having a strong individual character.

The ideal touristic hotel would be a resort hotel. And the biggest quality of a resort hotel is being surrounded by nature. Bringing nature into an urban style high-rise hotel is hence the challenge and the most important design element. Several suspended gardens which serve different areas and different levels – some public, some private – are the main feature. The roof top serves as a huge open sky garden offering great views and a relaxing environment.