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Neri&Hu completes Hainan Island wellness retreat inspired by ancient Chinese cities

2023-10-25T11:51:00-04:00

Neri&Hu has completed a wellness hotel on China’s Hainan Island. Named the Sanya Wellness Retreat, the scheme draws inspiration from the ancient Chinese walled city, which was typically elevated on a heavy plinth and surrounded by water. The resulting hotel is defined by two parts: a wooden dwelling comprising guest rooms and a masonry base beneath containing all public spaces.

Image credit: Chen Hao

The L-shaped building forms a water courtyard at the intersection of the two wings, serving a central feature from which all the hotel’s public amenities spread outwards. Meanwhile, the lobby forms a “garden landscape with a floating lantern hovering above that allows a gentle light to filter in,” while ceilings are lowered to frame views towards the sea.

Image credit: Chen Hao

“At every given opportunity, the design tries to embody the genius loci of Hainan, to blend elements from the island’s collective memory, culture, and natural features,” ...

Büro Ole Scheeren's new Sanya Horizons resort offers itself as a tropical oasis on the coast

2022-03-25T17:38:00-04:00

One of South China’s most coveted vacation destinations is about to get a spur thanks to a new design from Büro Ole Scheeren.

Billed as an enhancement of the natural surroundings on Hainan Island, Sanya Horizons will stand 160 meters (525 feet) above the resort-dotted tropical coastline to offer itself as what the firm says is a “unique ecological leisure destination” on a massive 83,500-square-meter (898,786-square-foot) beachfront plot.

Image © Büro Ole Scheeren

The project will combine two hotels — the Regent Sanya Bay and Hotel Indigo Sanya Bay — into one development, with each arranged in a stack that frees up much of the space surrounding the structure for an even more enhancing program of natural gardens and swimming areas. The combination of the massing also creates a unique and memorable curvilinear form that is both more structurally and ecologically efficient. Scheeren described the cumulative effect as “the merging of architecture and nature into a space of synergetic ha...

39 buildings on a massive Chinese manmade island have been ordered to be demolished

2022-01-04T20:31:00-05:00

Evergrande Group, the world’s most indebted developer, was last week ordered to demolish 39 buildings on Ocean Flower Island, a project comprising three man-made islands developed by the company in China’s southern Hainan province, within 10 days.

The developer was recently forced to hand over control of its $1.7B football stadium in Guangzhou after spending much of the past year attempting to stave off creditors looking to collect on the company’s reported $310 billion in liabilities, which has recently led to another round of public protests.

The massive development in Hainan province is one of the world’s largest manmade islands and has been the recipient of over $13 billion in Evergrande funds since breaking ground in 2015. The recent order by the Danzhou municipal government stated that Evergrande had illegally obtained building permits to the 435,000-square-meters of development in question, and follows up on a November promise from the city to sell any properties owned by the overleveraged company, according to a report in The Guardian.

A new research lab by CLOU highlights the growing demand for agricultural tourism in southern China

2021-08-19T11:52:00-04:00

Images have been unveiled for a new multi-functional Chinese agriculture and exhibition center that will transform the Nanfan High Tech District in the tropical Hainan Island city of Sanya into a scientific research hub.

CLOU Architects is behind the 4,000-square-meter (43,055-square-foot) Sanya Farm Lab that will capitalize on the local government’s investment into horticulture and food science with an integrated four-story showcase of innovation.

Image courtesy Shining Laboratory

Highlighted by a graticular glass and timber truss facade, the Lab fluidly incorporates a raised outdoor plaza into the building’s first two floors that is meant to “blur traditional boundaries between nature and city,” as it simultaneously “narrows the distance between technology and life,” according to the architect.

Image courtesy Shining Laboratory

The 31-inch-deep roof grid structure will help reduce the building’s sunlight absorption by 70%. The firm was very particular about developing a plan that w...

MAD's 'Wormhole Library' tops out

2021-02-09T17:34:00-05:00

Designed by Ma Yansong's team at MAD Architects, the intriguing new Wormhole Library in Haikou, the capital of the Chinese province of Hainan, recently celebrated its topping-out milestone. The structure sits within the city's Century Park along the Haikou Bay coastline, allowing visitors spectacular views of the sea.

The building is conceived as a multi-functional facility with a 7,430-square-foot reading space, cafe and terrace as well as a 3,230-square-foot public rest area accommodating a bicycle parking system, public bathrooms, and shower areas.

Image: Agovision/MAD.

"The intimately scaled structure is cast of white concrete as a unit," explains MAD's project description. "The curved concrete walls not only serve as an organic architectural structure but also connect the ceiling, ground, and walls together."

Image: Agovision/MAD.

"Holes of varying sizes allow the architecture to breathe, while also letting natural light flood the interior. The grey spaces o...

MAD Architects' "Wormhole Library" offers open-air performance space

2020-08-10T13:40:00-04:00

MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong, have released the design of the Wormhole Library, which will sit on the coast in Haikou, Hainan Province in China. The library will serve as a multi-functional building that will invite visitors to enjoy views of the sea, read through a collection of about 10,000 books, and attend open-air performances.

The project comes as a response to the local government's rejuvenation plan for Haikou Bay to enhance the use of public space along the coastline. As a part of the project, a series of pavilions by a number of local and international architects are currently under planning and the Wormhole Library will be the first to be completed.

The building is a large structure cast as a single piece of white concrete, giving the architecture an aesthetic characteristic similar to that of a wormhole, with its curving organic geometries. The building is being cast using both a CNC and 3D-printed model to ensure accuracy and mitigate any margins for error.

Even th...