The sales gallery was designed for a new SeedLand residential development project on the fringe of Kun Ming City.
Known as the “City of Eternal Spring” (春城), Kunming lies at an almost-tropical latitude but its 2000m altitude gives it a mild temperate climate, characterized by short, cool dry winters and long, balmy and humid summers. It is also known for its magnificent, strange and steep landscape of the Stone Forest. This unique karst landform creates countless labyrinthine vistas, all of which feature stones in various geological formations.
Project Name: Kunming Sales Gallery
Studio Name: Formwerkz Architects
Lead Architect: Alan Tay, Seetoh Kum Loon
Project Team: Wang Yow Han, Zhi Yang Wu, Cyan Goh, Qing Yue Zeng
ross Floor Area: 660 sqm
Completion Year: 2018
Location: Kunming, China
Consultants:
Interior Design: The Afternaut
Landscape Design: Salad Dressing
Experience Design: The Afternaut
Builder: Suzhou Gold Mantis Building Decoration Co., Ltd.
Photography Credits: Fabian Ong
Inspired by the spatial richness of Kunming’s Stone Forest and its various labyrinthine geological formations, the sales gallery seeks to embody these elements within a tight plan that incorporates the typology’s essential components. To negotiate this compactness, the scheme strikes a sinuous silhouette and an undulating volume against the hilly landscape at the city fringe.
The slightly sheared open plan and mountainous roof profile delineate and define the various programs within. This geological design language is extended to the spatial organisation, interior details, fit-out, branding and marketing strategies of the real estate product.
This project serves as a commentary amidst the rapid transformation of countryside plots to densely built new urban centres. The gallery steers away from ubiquity and detachment from its surroundings. Instead, it highlights the urgency to reflect and engage, at the human scale, the character of natural contexts in China’s emerging second-tier cities.
