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.

Meishan Shengshou Village

In Dongpo District with its rich cultural resources and supply of healthcare and leisure facilities, the existing, traditional Shengshou residential area has become an important tourist node. Min River, a touristic treasure in itself, is offering an ideal place for holiday life.
RhineScheme’s design approach embodies a new development model of urban and rural integration with the aim of creating a “new water town, natural village, and renewed old town” for the regional tourist resort and leisure market.
The most important guideline for the design has been to combine the three main layers: residence, forest & field and water area. Creating a harmonious symbiosis between nature and human settlement has become the main strategy.

“One corridor, two cores, three zones”: Keeping the original rural texture and retaining the original activity corridor has been one motif, keeping the traditional village core and creating a new cultural core to become the catalyst for the whole district has been the other. Final aim was linking the 3 distinct zones, the eco-hydrological area, the ancient town tour area and the culture and activity-driven new development into one vibrant entity.
To ensure comfortable access to the traditional settlement in Shengshou, the Binjiang walk is designed to create the east-west connection between site and Min River, and the north-to-south urban greenway along the river. The pedestrian streets are based on the original road design, but integrate a more pleasant residential environment to achieve a smooth transition between city and nature. Also the ecological waterfront axis provides the bivalent experience of urbanity and nature, ecology and human settlement.

In total there are seven thematic areas:
1. Traditional settlements: The traditional residences will be upgraded and renovated, the facades will be renovated, the new industry will be perfectly integrated into the old houses, and the spirit of the place will be reinvented to retain the village’s memory.
2. Interactive experience of agriculture and forestry: Rural leisure hotels are created based on the site resources to develop agricultural tourism, organic farming, and other activities to enrich the leisure life of citizens and be compatible with nature.
3. Folk handcraft experience: Preserving the culture of traditional materials, passing on intangible cultural heritage and developing traditional craft cultures such as bamboo weaving, clay sculpture, and painting.
4. “Dongpo Flavour Garden”: Using the border areas to host supporting facilities that cover: Local cuisine, Meishan Bazaar, international catering, convenience supermarkets and so on, connecting the city and the countryside.
5. Culture and art exhibition: Located beside of the main road and adjacent to the city, it has the potential to become a cultural and artistic center that serves beyond the district borders. It includes an art museum, a library and a civic cultural center. It will use green and high technology to form a new landmark in the city.
6. Wetland Park: The rich water resources on site allow building an Urban Wetland Park. Furthermore a terraced landscape can be created by the existing topography and height difference. A small island in the wetland is an ideal place for camping and picnics for young people, and its rich ecological environment is ideal life-science exhibit for children.
7. Bamboo theme park: Located independently on the north part of the site, it features and takes advantage of a large number of bamboo forests in the area. Bamboo is the obvious theme for the site. The quiet and private environment hosts a resort hotel with restaurant and a nice place for weddings. An additional sports park attracts people who love both nature and sports.

The design respects the site’s current topography and landforms and maintains the traditional residential style. According to the functional requirements the low-lying southeast part of the plot forms a lake, with the undulating riverside avenue as interesting spatial experience, while actively building features of a ‘sponge city’.
The architectural design of the Culture and Art Centre falls back on the natural and cultural elements of the area: bamboo shapes are used for its façade elements, and the building flows organically towards the lower side of the landscape like a terraced field.

Yantai International Korean Town

The main traffic connections from East to West divide the site into three parts. The natural resources of sea, river, mountain and forest interconnect in the site and constitute its most valuable asset. These factors determine the main development direction: from sea and riverside towards the interior.

As reference, we can see that typical harbour/estuary cities base their growth on their history or on the industries which give the city its character. Our site is based on natural resources, which are new and pristine. So how does one define the new city’s character? How can a nice environment be integrated with the new city functions?

River, sea, forest and mountain. These elements help define the functional distribution and desired atmosphere: Proximity to the water determines the active, leisure and entertainment pole. Proximity to the forest park determines the more quiet, calm and private area for residences. Water and forest are brought into the site in a dramatic way to increase direct contact with the waterfront and the park, for better commercial performance, but at the same time of course with the aim of creating perfect conditions for a life-and-work balance.

Following this analysis, some key concepts for the new city’s main characteristics have been defined:

  • Korean culture in a Chinese-Korean Town will create a unique atmosphere based on eastern cultures. Firstly, the local culture is an attraction for non-Koreans, Chinese and foreigners who bring business and commerce. The good atmosphere will attract more tourists and business opportunities. Secondly, Korean City culture is an attraction for Koreans, an incentive for settlement and investment. The increasing visitor flow promotes business cooperation between China and Korea.
  • Tourism: All-season all-day tourism, suitable for various age-groups, multiple categories, one-stop service, multi-culture tourism.
  • Green construction / new energy resources: Wind, solar, and tidal energy, water treatment, central infrastructure corridor, low-carbon buildings, waste management system, slow urban transportation.
  • Self-sustainable / self-supporting: Meeting the demands of the physical and spiritual life of citizens. Containing a full range of industries and services to promote the development of the city without using the surrounding cities’ functions, at the same time pushing the development of the surrounding areas
  • Smart city: Using IT for the people to satisfy their need for food, clothing, living, transportation, sports, entertainment and various aspects of ubiquitous convenience. To foster the development of Chinese IT industry emerging application technology, strengthen the industrial advantage and national competitiveness.
  • Sea, Mountain, Forest and Estuary converge in a common zone of interest. A green loop is born, extended, and multiple loops appear on focal points. The existing road plan and its green protection areas form the base for the urban fabric. Main and secondary circulation nodes appear and integrate the existing towns as urban heritage areas. A riverside green public space loop is priority and forms the main landscape element. A secondary public green loop gives structure as an urban corridor connecting all areas.

Four main development poles have been defined, with specific functions – tourism, mixed use, science & technology as well as finance – that give structure to the zoning plan.
The development is divided into 5 stages. The first stage (which has been deepened carefully in RhineScheme’s design) is to become the heart of the city.

Due to serious political differences between China and Korea in 2017, the project has come to an unexpected complete stop.

Fuyang Ying River East

The business area includes an iconic super high-rise building with a height of 180 meters as well as low-rise commercial streets for continental European style shopping.
The relationship between Anhui Province and the German State of Lower Saxony are a foundation for tourism and for the transfer of technology and tradition in beer brewing and other related businesses. German-style Biergartens are placed along the river bank providing an authentic atmosphere of German leisure culture.

The location of the plot offers splendid views towards the river delta and the city centre directly behind. In order to take advantage of the views and the location along the river, revitalizing the waterfront and creating reasonably sized commercial facilities is decisive for the success of the project. Three main design principles have been traced:
Maximized view connections, attractive work spaces & leisure activities, and a public Waterfront Promenade.

A continuous circuit linking the main commercial areas at strategic points supports the development to become a vivid, active area with diverse functions.
Located straight in the axis of the delta, the office and hotel towers rotate their direction, thus emphasizing the views towards the delta. The towers are designed to create a choreographic three-dimensional silhouette along the river. At the same time they are facing the green island towards the south, providing visual connections and welcoming the traffic crossing the bridge.
Creating a commercial podium at several levels is a strategy to expand the views to the delta. Directing the commercial area towards the centre and entering from the main access points, leads people in and contains the flow inside. It helps creating an important core for business and commerce.

The residential area comprises high-end apartments with best views towards the Ying River and the city center beyond. The residential buildings have two orientations to optimize both the views towards the river and the sun exposure. Different angles between the buildings avoid blocking the views.

King Abdullah Island

Through its nature and the type and scale of the proposed activities, PT is a unique development project on both kingdom and Arabian Gulf levels.
To achieve its objectives, PT aims to be a major IT hub and offshore R&D and financial centre in the area. Moreover, it includes two major infrastructure components:

King Abdullah’s Bridge (with 11 km length) will connect King Abdullah’s Road in Dammam with Riyadh Road on the adjacent Tarut Island, thus formulating a ring road around the built-up area. This measure will finally improve the accessibility and connectivity between the different parts of the study area. It is planned to extend this bridge for another 14 km to Ras Tanura in the second stage of the project.
King Abdullah’s Passenger Port will improve the connectivity of Dammam with major urban centres on the Arabian Gulf and act as a peer to Jeddah Port in the Western area of the Kingdom. It is planned for 1.5 million passengers per year in its first stage and to be connected to South-East Asia, mainly India and Pakistan, in the second stage.

Wenzhou Taishun Movie Town

Major target of the concept is the movie industry in a comprehensive functional chain, i.e. from the shooting to the public release of a movie, integrating to some extent tourism and real estate development. A mix of film-shooting, movie tourism, event culture, leisure and entertainment as well as high-end wellness and vacation is the aim. Eventually, the project will create a real new town in the region, for a more or less permanent population of at least 40,000 inhabitants.

The Central Area of the movie town is the pivot of the entire project operation and development. It is the dense and busy focus, with starred hotels and serviced apartments, with commercial and entertainment streets and – above all – a themed plaza in its middle with a fascinating amalgam of facilities for public events, as unique and memorable landmark. Moreover the Central Area provides commercial trading and operation for up- and downstream industries of the movie production chain.

4 themed development areas encircling the Central Area serve as carrier of movie culture and tourism: Coming from the ‘Tourist Service Center’ as initial point, visitors will firstly explore the European-style ‘Western Movie Town’ starting with a typical European square and special features of Western architecture. Further in the east, the new Film University for about 7,000 students will serve for education and for film-shooting as well.

The ‘Republican Theme Movie Town’ will create an image of the early days of the Republic of China during the 1920s and 1930s, in historical settings of mainly Old Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The ‘Ming/Qing Theme Movie Town’ will focus on the architectural and street style of Ming and Qing dynasties, including Chinese classical gardens. Finally the ‘Song Theme Movie Town’ takes its inspiration from the famous painting of a ‘Riverside Scene of Pure Brightness’, making water become its main subject.

Each area combines film-shooting and tourism, with separate entrances and without disrupting each other. Each provides a ‘one-stop’ functional area for movie production, including conventional studios and open areas for mass-scene shooting. The shooting locations are sensitively integrated into the existing landscape and old-established villages.

The concentric arrangement of the urban structure is a direct result of the development strategy: Like the pieces of a cake, every construction stage should comprise a part of the commercial areas in the centre, a part of the encircling movie towns and a part of other investments.

Weihai Xiaoyao Tourist Town

These elements also define the functional distribution and desired atmosphere: to the west, proximity to the water determines the active, leisure and entertainment pole; to the east, proximity to the forest park the more quiet, calm and private area for residences.
In both cases, water and forest are brought into the site in a dramatic way to increase direct contact with the waterfront and the park, for better commercial performance.
The more active western area is itself divided into an area dedicated to leisure, hotels and restaurants to the north, with a closer relationship to the water and the highest point, and a commercial retail area to the south, towards the city and integrating with the urban fabric.

From the present conditions of the site, the existing village gives us a wise and proven way of settling into the terrain, reflected in the street grid and basic orientation. These have been considered in the circulation structure of the master plans.
The surrounding region of Jiaodong provides us with the most valuable architectural resource: the stone-and-seaweed house, arranged mostly in courtyards that protect from the wind.
These elements also determine the master plan designs.

Master plan 1
The stone-and-seaweed house is faithfully rebuilt and recreated in the main buildings of the town: hotels and museum. They form a commercial village, preserving the scale and atmosphere of the old fishing towns. Finally, they provide an intense living experience for the dwellers of the residential area, in close contact with the noble traditional materials and the courtyard way of living.

Master plan 2
follows the same spatial structure but with a modern architectural language inspired by the shapes of the stone houses. In the commercial village, the central courtyards have been replaced by a dynamic and organic succession of public spaces. The residences still preserve the courtyard structure and density of construction while using contemporary materials.

Both master plans include a 5 star hotel, a museum focused on the cultural and architectural values of the region, a commercial center with mixed retail, a bar street and a ring of seafood restaurants surrounding a series of cascading lagoons ending in a water theatre, a potential venue for a “Weihai Impressions” open air show, the main attraction of the site which tells old local stories and legends such as ‘Xiaoyao Town’ and ‘Ever Bright City’. In addition, a residential area with a mix of housing types, from 160 m2 to 300 m2, all offering the experience of living in a modern interpretation of the traditional local house type.

Fuyang Wangdian German Town

The project aims at a symbiosis of German and Chinese urban culture: by harmonious relations between built and natural environment, by generous plazas and green areas and intimate little squares and alleys. The program includes residential towers as well as low-rise town houses, convenient shopping areas in the style of German old towns, a representative district plaza surrounded by cultural buildings, and a flexible open space for different activities such as “Oktoberfest” and horse show venues.

The ‘German Town’-inspired commercial area incorporates a 5 star business hotel facing its central square in the typical size of an ancient European town. Its counterpart, the half-open and large-scale urban plaza is located just opposite of the future district civic centre, to emphasize a formal urban axis which continues further west: with a brewery exhibition and research museum and different show venues.
This north-western area is designed around an open space for equestrian shows and other related sporting activities. A club house, grandstands and the main Oktoberfest tents are encompassing a green field in their middle.
The western end offers a restaurant and bar street, with a central festival tent for entertainment shows or exhibitions.

The residential areas reflect the importance of open space planning in today’s urban life.
Big-scale landscaped green areas are a must to find balance with our natural environment and give back what is taken from nature by any new development.
Wide green belts protect the quiet residential areas from the noisy traffic of the main roads.
The vast open space in which the residential areas are embedded provides all the benefits of recreation, ecology and natural aesthetics – as necessary surplus values for citizens. Each residential plot has its own central park, with a variety of water features, allowing residents to enjoy a green environment for leisure and sport activities.
An extensive parkway interconnects the green areas with their different identities and provides a panoramic landscape experience along its winded course.