Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Brick, Facade, Courtyard
© Pedro Pegenaute

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Image 2 of 38Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Windows, Facade, CourtyardTsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - BeamTsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - WaterfrontTsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - More Images+ 33

Yangzhou, China
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  4200
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2017
  • Photographs
    Photographs:Pedro Pegenaute
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  Duravit, Kohler, PG, Zucchetti
  • Architect & Interior Designer: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Facade, Column
© Pedro Pegenaute

Text description provided by the architects. Situated in close proximity to Yangzhou’s scenic Slender West Lake, the site given to Neri&Hu to design a 20-room boutique hotel was a challenging one, dotted with small lakes and a handful of existing structures. The design brief called for the adaptive reuse of several of the old buildings by giving them new functions, while adding new buildings to accommodate the hotel’s capacity needs.

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Windows
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Image 27 of 38
Diagram
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Windows, Facade
© Pedro Pegenaute

Neri&Hu’s strategy to unify these scattered elements was to overlay a grid of walls and paths onto the site to tie the entire project together, resulting in multiple courtyard enclosures. The inspiration for the design actually originates with the courtyard house typology of vernacular Chinese architecture. As with the traditional courtyard, the courtyard here gives hierarchy to the spaces, frames views of the sky and earth, encapsulates landscape into architecture, and creates an overlap between interior and exterior. 

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Image 2 of 38
© Pedro Pegenaute

Constructed entirely from reclaimed grey brick, the gridded walls’ narrow interior passageway forces a long perspective, while light plays off the various brick patterns, enticing guests to venture ever deeper into the project. Within the walls, several of the courtyards are occupied by guest rooms and other shared amenities such as the reception, library, and restaurant.

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Brick, Facade
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Image 31 of 38
Courtyard Guestroom Plan 1F
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Sink, Bathroom, Countertop, Bathtub
© Pedro Pegenaute

Many of the building roof lines are confined within the height of the walls surrounding them, so that they are not visible from afar. Hotel guests traverse the site using the walled pathways to discover their rooms. Once within, there is a clear separation between the building and the walls, a layering of privacy and a sliver of landscape for guests to enjoy. Other courtyards are unoccupied, pockets of lush garden to offer relief from the sense of enclosure.

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Windows
© Pedro Pegenaute

Journeying along the walls, guests can also ascend through openings above to gain privileged vantage points that look out across the gridded landscape and beyond to the surrounding lakes. Here three additional buildings take their place in the panorama; the rising second floor of the largest courtyard building, a lakeside pavilion of four guestrooms, and a multifunction building at the furthest reaches of the site. Renovating the existing derelict warehouse building, with a partial new concrete addition, this multifunction building houses a restaurant, a theater

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Beam
© Pedro Pegenaute
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Image 35 of 38
Lakeview Guestroom Elevation
Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Lighting, Chair
Courtesy of Tsingpu

Renovating the existing derelict warehouse building, with a partial new concrete addition, this multifunction building houses a restaurant, a theater and an exhibition space. With this project, Neri&Hu’s ambition lies in utilizing a strong landscape element—the wall and courtyard—to unify a complex site and program, while the rustic materiality and layered spaces seek to redefine tradition with a modern architectural language.

Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office - Waterfront
© Pedro Pegenaute

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Project location

Address:1 Baocheng Road, Hanjiang District, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat / Neri&Hu Design and Research Office" 17 Oct 2020. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/888969/the-walled-tsingpu-yangzhou-retreat-neri-and-hu-design-and-research-office> ISSN 0719-8884

© Pedro Pegenaute

青普扬州瘦西湖文化行馆 / 如恩设计研究室

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