Neri&Hu Design and Research Office 如恩设计研究室

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute

TSINGPU YANGZHOU RETREAT

Neri&Hu Design and Research

CATEGORY
Hotels

LOCATION
Yangzhou, China

MANUFACTURERS
Duravit, Kohler, Zucchetti, PG

ARCHITECT & INTERIOR DESIGNER
Neri&hu Design And Research Office

AREA
4200 m²

PHOTOGRAPHS
Pedro Pegenaute

YEAR
2017

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute

Situated in close proximity to Yangzhou’s scenic Slender West Lake, the site given to Neri&Hu to design a 20-room boutique hotel was a challenging one, dotted with small lakes and a handful of existing structures.

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute

The design brief called for the adaptive reuse of several of the old buildings by giving them new functions, while adding new buildings to accommodate the hotel’s capacity needs.

Neri&Hu’s strategy to unify these scattered elements was to overlay a grid of walls and paths onto the site to tie the entire project together, resulting in multiple courtyard enclosures.

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute

The inspiration for the design actually originates with the courtyard house typology of vernacular Chinese architecture.

As with the traditional courtyard, the courtyard here gives hierarchy to the spaces, frames views of the sky and earth, encapsulates landscape into architecture, and creates an overlap between interior and exterior.

Constructed entirely from reclaimed grey brick, the gridded walls’ narrow interior passageway forces a long perspective, while light plays off the various brick patterns, enticing guests to venture ever deeper into the project.

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute

Within the walls, several of the courtyards are occupied by guest rooms and other shared amenities such as the reception, library, and restaurant.

Many of the building roof lines are confined within the height of the walls surrounding them, so that they are not visible from afar.

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Courtesy of Tsingpu

Hotel guests traverse the site using the walled pathways to discover their rooms. Once within, there is a clear separation between the building and the walls, a layering of privacy and a sliver of landscape for guests to enjoy.

Other courtyards are unoccupied, pockets of lush garden to offer relief from the sense of enclosure.

Journeying along the walls, guests can also ascend through openings above to gain privileged vantage points that look out across the gridded landscape and beyond to the surrounding lakes.

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Courtesy of Tsingpu
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute

Here three additional buildings take their place in the panorama; the rising second floor of the largest courtyard building, a lakeside pavilion of four guestrooms, and a multifunction building at the furthest reaches of the site.

Renovating the existing derelict warehouse building, with a partial new concrete addition, this multifunction building houses a restaurant, a theater

Renovating the existing derelict warehouse building, with a partial new concrete addition, this multifunction building houses a restaurant, a theater and an exhibition space.

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute

With this project, Neri&Hu’s ambition lies in utilizing a strong landscape element—the wall and courtyard—to unify a complex site and program, while the rustic materiality and layered spaces seek to redefine tradition with a modern architectural language.


Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
© Pedro Pegenaute


Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Reception Floor Plan
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Lakeview Guestroom Floor Plan
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Library Guestroom Floor Plan
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Courtyard Guestroom Plan 1F


Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Lakeview Guestroom Elevation
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
East Elevation


Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Reception Elevation Sections
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Courtyard Guestroom Section
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Library Guestroom Sections
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Lakeview Guestroom Sections


Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Diagram
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Site Plan


Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Sketch by Lyndon Neri. Image Courtesy of Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat
Courtesy of Neri&Hu Design and Research Office

Neri&Hu Design and Research Office 如恩设计研究室
T +8621 5286 2900
Neri&Hu Design and Research Office 如恩设计研究室
322 Jiaozhou Road, Building 31 Jing'an District, Shanghai China 200040 中国上海市静安区胶州路322号31楼