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Architects: 3andwich Design / He Wei Studio
- Area: 1400 m²
- Year: 2017
Over the Hills: Tourist Center of Anlong Limestone Resort
Anlong Limestone Resort is located in a karst canyon of Dushan Town, Anlong County, Southwest Guizhou Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, covering the area of 700 acres with the magnificent scenery. Outdoor extreme sports can be found the ideal site here including rock climbing, hot air balloon, paragliding, water sports and off-road vehicles.
In 2016, 3andwich Design / He Wei Studio was invited to participate in the planning and design of the Resort, and was in charge of designing a unique group of buildings: the Tourist Center of Anlong Limestone Resort.
Explicit and Implicit
The Tourist Center is located on the top of a hill that lies at the bottom of the canyon. The reason to choose this location is that the hill is the only high point of the canyon with a good view and very eye-catching, which could make this group of buildings the visual focus and resist from annual flooding.
Due to the particularity of site selection, the first problem that the design team need to solve is the relationship between architecture and environment. The scenery of the canyon is powerful enough to become theprotagonist of the Resort; Meanwhile, the buildings should be integrated into the environment, and then to improve the environment with its own characteristics.
Internal and External
Appearance means that each building has a good viewing surface of glass walls, through which the magnificent scenery of the canyon can be absorbed by the buildings, resonating between buildings and canyon. Sitting in the interior of the buildings or under the eaves, people can communicate with the rocks, rivers and earth.
Cohesion refers to the inward aggregation either between the buildings, or between the buildings and rocks, which has been defined and functionalized by an elevated platform. The platform can not only prevent floodingbut also connect the outdoor space of each single buildings. All the entrances of the four buildings are open to the platform, where would be used as the communication space for the visitors. In the center, the semi-outdoor pavilion (“Pavilion M”) further strengthens the aggregation of the platform, where has been designed as the most dynamic part among the Tourist Center.
Void and Solid
As mentioned above, the relationship between buildings and environment is the starting point of the Tourist Center. The buildings have been inserted into the rocks, and merged with the environment with local architectural form and materials. At the same time, the building is the most important scenic spot and ornamental point in the entire canyon, illustrating the significance of the transformation between void and solidof the appearance. It is the mode of transformation that plays the key role as an important design language todistinguish from the traditional vernacular buildings.
According to the function, orientation and the relationship with the surrounding environment of the buildings, designers have connected “solid surfaces” (including roofs, walls and ground), to create C-shape tubes in section; Meanwhile the “void surfaces” (glass) have been wrapped in the epidermis of the tubes. Through the transformation between solid and void, completely different temperaments have been obtained from the exterior and interior spaces.
