Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel

Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen

LOSTVILLA QINYONG PRIMARY SCHOOL HOTEL

Atelier XÜK

ARCHITECTS
Atelier XÜK

LOCATION
Ningbo, China

CATEGORY
Hotels

AREA
2000 m²

YEAR
2018

PHOTOGRAPHS
Xuguo Tang, Hao Chen

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Kenan Liu, Xu Zhang

DESIGN TEAM
Yekai Wwang, Jin Huang, Wuyi Cai, Zirui Huang, Bolun Liu, Chao Gu, Di He

ENGINEERING
Jianbo Miao, Xiaoming Yu, Tong Chen

CLIENT
Lostvilla

Text description provided by architect.

The Qinyong Primary School Hotel is located in the southeast of Ningbo, Zhejiang Province in China. The village, which used to be notorious for being a “rotten village” in the 1960s, was transformed under a specific historical circumstance.

Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen

At the height of the communism movement in the 1970s, the whole village was demolished and reconstructed, and became the first strictly planned commune in the province.

The original natural fabrics and traces were wiped out and a grid of townhouses were established with blocks of local sandstone.

Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen

Meanwhile, the same material was used to build new infrastructure public buildings and such as the village gate, paths, the auditorium, as well as the primary school which has now been renovated into the hotel.

The primary school, consisting of a main teaching buildings and a wing building, sits on the high platform at the northernmost end of the village.

Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen

The large platform was originally the school playground, from where one can get an aerial view of the whole village. The strip-shaped gray tile roofs are like a piece of land art, stretching all the way to the foot of the adjacent mountain.

The entire idea of the renovation comes from the preservation of the masonry structure. The design process can be called as a strategy of intervention.

Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen

The original structure of load-bearing masonry walls and prefabricated floor slabs determined the spatial framework. It is impossible to punch into the stone blocks for installing pipelines, and it is also difficult to add new openings in the walls for doors and windows.

A raised platform became a driving force throughout the design. Made with wood, this platform extends all around the rooms and corridors and plays a mediating role.

Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen

Through this continuous raised platform, the pipeline facilities are connected without the risk of drilling holes in the walls, and the freedom of interior distribution is achieved.

Taking advantage of the resilience of the original structure, a cafeteria is added onto the rooftop of the wing building for banquets.

Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen

The addition is made by welded square tubes 5 centimeters in size.The material and its size are the outcome of optimized conditions.

Firstly, the light steel structure made it possible to transport and install the components by human labor on the rooftop.Secondly, the cross-section of the square is preconditioned to hide behind the wooden enclosure.

Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen

Thus the perception of the warm-toned interior is not disturbed. A staircase is added to access the cafeteria.

It has openings towards different directions at various heights, framing views which give visitors a rich spatial experience while ascending.

Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen

To the overall experience, the large number of in-situ fabricated woodwork from furniture scale to room scale not only gives a feeling of a singular enclosure to the interior space, but also endows a sense of “make-do” to the momentary experience.

Such specific moments of experience form a ‘de-familiarization’ effect in the interior space and detach the visitors from the continuous flow of commonness.

Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
© Hao Chen


Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
Site plan
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
1F plan
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
2F plan
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
3F plan


Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
Perspective section
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
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Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
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Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
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Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
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Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
Room
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
Room
Lostvilla Qinyong Primary School Hotel
Room