studioGA

Set within a mountainous forest landscape, the Xianning Hotel is envisioned as a contemporary retreat that mediates between nature, tradition, and crafted form. All public functions are gathered in a transparent podium whose perspectival layout opens toward the forest, allowing the landscape to permeate the interior. Above it hovers a gently undulating roof, recalling the upturned gestures of traditional Chinese architecture. At the center, a glass atrium becomes the project’s luminous heart: its lace-like structural pattern is intermittently veiled by a thin sheet of water, producing shimmering reflections that animate the space and the pool below with a quiet, atmospheric intensity.

Resting atop the plinth, the guest-room volume emerges as a monolithic, sculpted mass, its concrete envelope subtly pleated to form sheltered balcony niches and to evoke the softness of draped fabric. This plastic surface conceals and reveals, creating depth and privacy while echoing the layered density of the surrounding forest. Viewed from the valley or the inner courtyard, the hotel reads as both enigmatic and serene—an interplay of solid and void, softness and weight—where architecture, topography, and landscape coalesce into a single, immersive spatial experience.