Chengdu, China, with a history of more than 3,000 years, is known as the “Land of Abundance”. Its unique Ba-Shu cultural charm and slow-paced lifestyle have become the city’s unique label and an important factor for the site selection of Banyan Tree. The hotel is located in downtown Chengdu, adjacent to the Convention and Exhibition Center. Considering the target group of the hotel, which is mostly business travelers participating in the exhibition, YANG combines the natural leisure orientation of Banyan Tree Brand with business concepts, creating a Banyan Tree Hotel that integrates business and leisure vacation temperament.
3rd Award- Global Future Design Awards 2020
Firm | YANG & ASSOCIATES GROUP
Architect/Designer | Yang Bangsheng
Category | Hospitality Concept
Team | Yang Bangsheng，Chen Anyun，Tian Shuai
Country | China
Photographer/Copyright | ©YANG & ASSOCIATES GROUP
The ancient book Shu Du Fu of the Western Jin Dynasty, which records Chengdu’s diverse natural landscape and long-standing residential culture, becomes the source of inspiration for YANG. The space design starts with the traveling route of the travel journal. You will meet Chengdu’s magnificent landscape at the arrival and lobby, a very shocking first impression of “mountain city”. The prosperity of ancient Chengdu’s business dealings and the leisure of eating under bamboo can be experienced in the all-day restaurant. From the space and color of the ballroom, you can appreciate the beauty and romance of Chengdu hibiscus flower. The unique flavor of the local residential courtyard will exude in the guest room.
The biggest challenge facing hotel space design is that the atrium of the original building’s eight-story guest room space is elevated, and the huge space scale, although majestic, also brings psychological pressure and fear, excluding the guests and exposing their privacy. In order to solve this problem, YANG’s design team boldly innovated and used modern art to interpret the natural landscape in the lobby, bringing an immersive arrival and stay-in experience. The “mountain peaks” that rise one after another ingeniously block the corridor of the guest room, ensuring the privacy of the guest room. At the same time, the winding curve reduces the space scale and gives people a feeling of closeness. The combination of the “mountain peak” and the glass ceiling creates the space form of the light-transmitting cave, making the space filled with mystery. In the circulation design, the designer skillfully integrates natural green plants and running water settings to indicate the direction, guiding visiting guests go through caves to explore and discover the surprises hidden in the space.
The guest room features fashion and business as well as nature and leisure. The space emphasizes the creation of a clean and simple atmosphere, providing a more comfortable and pleasant office environment which is equipped with sufficient office facilities. The business temperament integrates with a sense of leisure. The wall texture draws inspiration from the door and window shapes of local residential buildings. The most primitive local building construction technique, rammed earth wall, is reconstructed and applied to space by designers in modern methods. It highlights local characteristics while creating a sense of leisure and ease. The overlapping stone elements in the residents’ courtyard are represented in the toilet, which forms a cave-shaped space, filling interests of exploration.