The restaurant SHINKAI By Yotsuba, a service building in the Aranya Sanya community, is a unique creation by architect JUNG Donghyun, following his successful design of SHINKAI By Hatsune (Forest Dining Club) at the Aranya Beidaihe in 2018. While both restaurants explore the relationship between forest and architecture, the new establishment offers a distinct experience due to its unique surroundings.

Begin with environment

The site is on the north slope of Nan Ding Hills and around the mountains from three sides, towards a broad grassland and mountains on the horizon in the north; enjoy a comfortable and silent land on the tropical island – of Hainan. In Spring 2022, the design team came to the site for the first time. The original site, perched on the mountainside, is the highest point of the community; the building volume is considered a line, with one side to grassland and mountains in the north and the other side close to the south mountain. Through inspecting the nearby site, design teams discover a platform under a valley and discuss it with the clients; the site is changed. With a new surrounding and site elevation, the dining space is levitated to the second floor for the same views to the north, and the entrance and kitchen are positioned on the first floor. The building presents a T shape, which combines with the valley in the south, creating a diverse interface with the environment.

Along the route of hide

The building converses with the mountain, valley, and hills, surrounded by mountains from three sides. The slope of the roof, parallel with the mountains, has a height up to the trees in the site. The buildings and terrain hide the valley, and the ritual circulation corresponds with the environment. When accessing the interiors and stepping onto the second floor, the primitive valley and cliff immediately came the first sight of visitors. This strategy appears in the first restaurant – SHINKAI By Hatsune. The architecture covers the forest, and people access the building through four times transitions, finally finding it circled by the forest with surprise.

Towards anti-regulation

The second floor includes four areas: The Hillview dining area at the north, the private dining room area at the east, the valley and cliff dining area at the south, and the core area bridge with these three areas, which is a multifunction space integrate the service area, reception area, staircase, elevator, and restroom, and also as the main structure of the building. The core area flooring with dark marble brick and furnishings with rough walls maintain a stable sense, distinguishing it from the relaxed wooden space in the dining area. For immersed in a mountain environment, the interiors respond to the environment’s nature – random with regular, the ceiling breaks the regular size of slab, set an irregular scale to balance the reason sense of space. With a unified consideration of architecture, interiors, and landscape, the design team controls the signage, lighting, decoration, and floral art for a complete atmosphere.

Touch the vistas

The surprising valley would meet the falls during the rainy season; people would experience a duo of a close landscape in the south and a broad view in the north. The landscape of the building continues from the original mountain, planning and trimming the wild shrubs and planting the new trees Huanghuali (Dalbergia odorifera), whose height is up to the roof, in harmony with the natural and primitive mountain. The rocks at the site were applied into gravel, tabular rock, landscape stone, and the step of spit of fland, coordinating the native species, deliberately creating the new landscape accessible from the east of the building. The extended roof overhang keeps out the direct sunshine, and the double roof helps ventilation and thermal insulation, which is concluded by the local climate.

The project comprehends the site deeply and responds to its surroundings. It follows the strategy of hiding, anti-regulation, creating a sensible view, letting the space experience the times, and allowing it to exist naturally.