The old town of Lijiang in Yunnan province, where traditions, modernity, tranquillity and hustles co-exist, breeds an elegant and creative gathering place for homestay hotels. Among the scattering design practices, Li Man•Shen Mi Ji hotel is a special isolated existence. Its modern ink painting style brings the poetic and innovative annotation for a renovation space.
The hotel location was originally a small residential yard with an unreasonable layout which was hard to realize its design value. The design company Yiduan Shanghai Interior Design demolished and re-designed the building. They integrated the building and its landscape into the old town. Besides, they brought new vitality to the waste materials by reuse and classification.
The five building complex cluster between the front yard water and backyard stream. The green bricks and tiles reflect the shadow of guests under the lights in the courtyard. The rest area is a sunken design. The round windows frame the greenness of bamboos, and waterfall flowing across the steel plates. Up the stairs and walk pass the over 10-metre long gallery will be heading to the reception hall. The reflections are similar to ink landscape paintings. Time slows down under such atmosphere.
The dozens of black steel plates in the reception hall become the visual focus. They smartly concealed the columns of the original building, and also be used as functional partitions. The top of the reception hall is composed of numerous bamboo sticks which is a unique artwork. The reception desk is a 7-metre long slab that extends to the VIP tea room, subverting the traditional reception mode by the tensions and aesthetics.
Each of the rooms has its own feature. The rooms situated by the water stream side have private balconies, allowing interactions with lights and clouds. The rooms are simple and unsophisticated, and they are mostly made of raw materials in simple colours which completely match the surroundings. The modern lifestyle is presented in details, such as open bathroom layouts.
The ink painting concept and natural quality of Li Man•Shen Mi Ji hotel make it soothing and quiet. Yiduan established a benchmark that broke the traditional impression on home stay hotels by their innovative practice on the architecture, landscape and interior design.
PROJECT DATA
Project Name: Li Man•Shen Mi Ji Hotel
Location: Lijiang, Yunnan province, China
Completion Date: November 2017
Gross Floor Area: 1000 square metres
Interior Design Firm: Yiduan Shanghai Interior Design
Creative Director: Xu Xujun
Designer Team: Xu Xuwei; Liu Wei; Liu Wei; Gong Xuan; Luo Zhenhai
Images: Zhu Enlong
