Alila Yangshuo Hotel, Guilin
Architect: Vector Architects
Year: 2017
Location: Yangshuo, China
Category: Hospitality / Hotel
Status: Built
About
The hotel sits in the picturesque Li River valley of Yangshuo, surrounded by the region’s characteristic karst mountain scenery. In this unique context, the project intervenes on an old sugar mill built in the 1960s, which had been beautifully preserved. This industrial heritage represents the spirit of older generations, and respecting it becomes guiding the premise of this project. The mill and the rest of the old industrial pieces occupy the central part of the hotel complex, flanked by the newly added suite building and villas. The sunken plaza and reflective pond accentuate the spiritual symbolism and significance of the old structure. The design seeks a sense of consistency by using more contemporary materials and construction methods while preserving the tinge and masonry structure of the old. Hollow concrete blocks and wood-formed cast-in-place concrete serves to make the new volume lighter and more transparent. Two circulation systems pass up and through the suite building: one being a completely functional corridor system with the other serving as a free public walkway. The contrast between the horizontality of the architecture and the verticality of the karst mountains suggests an interaction between the artificial and the natural