Project
Sky Yards Hotel
Category
Best Implemented Project of Public Building or Facility
About the project
Although surrounded by waste land and industrial sites, the site still has views to the mountain far away.
Usually a hotel room would be designed as an outward box to maximize the view. Consequently, a hotel building would be a collection of outward boxes. We rejected this conventional model and reinvented the actual experience in a typical unit: first, the exterior view below eye-level is blocked; then the opening is “lifted” or enlarged to invite more light and air; at last, the full-size glass door turned the unit into a combination of interior room and exterior micro courtyard, with a scroll-like view of the sky and the mountain.
Using a very simple and consistent method, we invented a “room + micro-yard” model for hotel design, and transformed the disadvantage of the site into a private, ambiguous, and distinctive experience. Devoid of superficial visual elements, Sky Yards evokes the traditional Chinese garden making methodology of concealing and revealing.
Location
Henan Province, China
Project implementation year
2021
Project website
http://domain-architects.com/project/1
Applicant and authors of the project
Domain Architects strives to reform the spatial experience with innovative site strategy. We consider “experience” as the core of all designs. By rejecting conventional models, we keep going back to the original nature of sites and programs to reinvent the logic and quality of spaces.
Xiaomeng Xu, the founder of the studio, was born in Beijing. He graduated from University of Pennsylvania with B.A. in architecture and then obtained Master of Architecture from Columbia University.
ARCHITECTURE DESIGN: Xiaomeng Xu, Chun Wang
INTERIOR DESIGN: Xiaomeng Xu, Hannah Wang
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Xiaomeng Xu, Hannah Wang
Other participants
STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT: AND Office
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENT (ARCHITECTURE): Henan Urban & Rural Design Institute
CONTRACTOR (ARCHITECTURE): Local team
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENT (FINISHING & LANDSCAPE): Henan Jutailong Decoration and Construction Co. Ltd.
CONTRACTOR (FINISHING & LANDSCAPE): Henan Jutailong Decoration and Construction Co. Ltd.
PHOTOGRAPHER: Chao Zhang