Sanya CR Land Haitang Bay Waterfront Center
SANYA CR LAND HAITANG BAY WATERFRONT CENTER
Vari Architects
ARCHITECTS
Vari Architects
LEAD ARCHITECT
Feng Pan'ao
PROJECT ARCHITECTS
Li Jun, MOU Yu, Tan Enze, Zhang Xiangqi, Zhang Heming, Luo Feifan, Xu Feihong, Chen Mingli
PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT
Qi Fan
PHOTOGRAPHS
Arch-Exist, Shan-jian images
AREA
2000 m²
YEAR
2026
LOCATION
China
CATEGORY
Commercial Architecture
English description provided by the architects.
On the banks of the Sanya Haitang River, where tides ebb and flow, the climate is warm, and islands, coconut groves, and dense mangroves unfold in layers. Here, on the wetlands of Haitang Bay, we have woven an organic waterfront village.
The Japanese philosopher Tetsurō Watsuji believed that "fudo (wind and earth) is a comprehensive term for climate, geology, soil, sightlines, and landscape." Thus, we respond to the fudo with a continuous village and an undulating roof.
The silver rooftop interpenetrates with the lush greenery, intertwining the calm of metal with the abundance of the tropics. The architecture maintains a humble empathy with nature, while the vast shadows it casts care for and shelter the people and life along the water's edge.
WATERFRONT SETTLEMENT
The project is located in the waterfront zone of Sanya's Haitang Bay, close to the coastline. This body of water nurtures abundant mangrove resources and rare ecological landscapes.
Therefore, the design responds to the existing site, preserving the current roads and landscape spaces, retreating into nature in the manner of a "Village Prototype." We drew inspiration from the mangroves—their growth pattern of intertwined root systems, individual yet interdependent.
This organic order, constituted by spacing and orientation, became the reference for the settlement's morphology. We disaggregated the approximately 1,000-square-meter building mass into small boxes, using low-rise, dispersed individual volumes to follow the texture of the waterfront.
The building volumes are rotated in response to the road alignment, each volume interlocking with one another—like several neighboring cottages slowly unfolding between the grassland and the water's edge, forming the natural character of a small settlement.
To preserve the existing open woodland and psammophytic vegetation, we made minor adjustments based on the original roads. The transformed road now stretches 110 meters in length, connecting the drop-off central island, lawn, pier, and boardwalk.
The main roofs of each functional volume adopt a gentle single-slope form. When viewed from above, the variations in the roofs create a rhythm, reading as a continuous village. The internal circulation winds and weaves between the individual volumes, trading path length for density of 停留.
Interrelated functional clusters with distinct emphases—a community canteen, a fusion restaurant, neighborhood spaces, and small-scale retail—together form a layered and intimate waterfront living scene.
THE NARRATIVE OF THE ROOF
Sanya's abundant sunlight, persistent sea breezes, and humid air necessitate a series of spatial strategies to mediate the natural environment:
shading, ventilation, in-between spaces, and the continuous relationship between interior and exterior.
The roof shields against sunlight while embracing the sea breeze, becoming the most important narrative of this waterfront.
In the context of the tropical waterfront, the metal canopy responds to the tension of the flowing sea with undulating forms.
The curved canopy surfaces ripple beneath the sun, extending like layered wave crests. Silver curves mirror the sky, while trees interweave through the vast roof planes, casting their beautiful shadows.
BLURRING OF BOUNDARIES
Kevin Lynch, in *What Time Is This Place?*, proposed that the external world functions as a vast clock, by which our internal sense of time is constantly reset.
In the enduring tropics, one's perception of time slows down. Along the Haitang River, we seek to cultivate a relaxed and leisurely vacation life. The large-scale glass interface blurs the boundary between interior and exterior.
The tropical cabins along the path are embraced by lush vegetation, with fragrant flowers visible everywhere. Sunlight enters the interior at a low angle, and the space presents a state of being enveloped by nature.
Once indoors, the view remains transparent and expansive. The eaves guide the eye toward the water and the lawn — from "open" to "intimate," from "blurred" to "unobstructed." The experience within is rich, full of a sense of exploration and discovery.
From the resident canteen, neighborhood center, and fusion restaurant, to small-scale lifestyle programs, bakery and coffee spaces — one can wander from one unit to another, slowly savoring the sunlight and the picturesque island scenery.
FROM BUILDING TO DWELLING
In ancient times, people lived together in clans, forming villages and towns, sharing the nourishment of the land. The village we designed in Haitang Bay intentionally creates a spatial condition where people are willing to linger and coexist.
Open in-between spaces connect the individual volumes, allowing people to encounter one another and gather within a relaxed scale. Amidst the plant-shrouded cabins, a rich dining system and lifestyle brands gather, bringing a warmer vacation experience to this serene waterfront.
The architecture not only hosts the daily rituals of dining and socializing but also connects people, connects the waterfront, and connects scenes.
The metal waves, the growing trees, and the scale of the architecture all respond to the fudo and the dwelling life of Haitang Bay, providing an ecological environment for encounter and permeation — for another kind of warm and leisurely existence.
Amidst the sound of the tides, the wave-like canopy surfaces seem to billow in the wind. The lights along the shore are reflected on the water, as people gather to dine in the sea breeze. Amidst the flow of people, relationships are woven together. Beneath the undulating eaves, it feels as if being embraced by the world.
