“MUH SHOOU” originally means the last fruit left by farmers on the tree with the special intention of sharing it with animals in nature so as to pray for the harvest of the coming year. That’s just where the name of MUH SHOOU XIXI comes.
Credits:
Client: Hangzhou MUH SHOOU Shiye Hotel Co., Ltd.
Location: XIXI Wetland, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
Design / Completion: 2015-2018
GFA: 7,000 m2
Design Firm: GOA
Chief Architect: Zhang Xiaoxiao
Photographer: SHIROMIO STUDIO, Three wind, Zhou Yijin
Interior Design: GOA, LANDTO Interior Design, BOB DESIGN OFFICE
Landscape Design: Z+T STUDIO
Design Management: GOA
Operation Consultant: Hangzhou MUH SHOOU Shiye Hotel Co., Ltd.
MUH SHOOU XIXI lies on the end of Longshezui entrance at the southwest corner of XIXI Wetland. The site of the project is located at the north of gently rolling hills and the south of flatland with plentiful lakes. It boasts typical wetland ecology with water path, land route as well as native vegetation surrounding. The architect attempts to present the natural beauty of XIXI Wetland – “coldness, quietness, uniqueness, wildness and seclusion” – to visitors through the design and evoke the resonance between human and the primitive nature through the architecture.
The hotel is renovated from five old buildings originally on this site. The challenge to architects is how to meet the needs of modern hotels in an ecologically optimal way. After making a large number of on-site investigations, architects completed the structural transformation and integrated system layout with extremely minimal intervention, so that the building could be connected with surrounding forest and water system smoothly.
There are many kinds of plants surrounding the hotel, most of them are persimmon trees, among which the oldest tree is 100-year-old. The building team recorded root elevation, species and names of all trees with DBH of 10cm one by one, and “weaved” the building into the environment so as to adapt to the layout of the original vegetation.
The functional layout of the hotel is adapted to local conditions. In the entrance, a table of Chinese zither and some persimmon trees are right in the middle of a water court, horizontally connecting the “wild hall” with wide view on the east side and the corridor on the west side.
With recycled old wood boards, rusted steel and water-washed marble as the main material of corridors, the designer introduced the concept of “time” into the space – when the original lustre and the sense of touch of the material evolved slowly in the wind, frost, snow and rain, the passage of time was also recorded in every stone and every piece of wood at the same time.
The restaurant faces water in three sides, with interior design following the principle of ecological priority, recycled wood and left material “stone skin” during the processing of lake stones as main materials. The dining hall on the first floor is named “Xi Ying”, the private rooms on the second floor are respectively named “Gui Qiao”, “Fang Xi”, “Yin Yu”, “Xun Ling” and “Xi Shi”, echoing the theme of the joy of living in seclusion and the happiness of sharing.
The banquet hall with plentiful lights is surrounded by 270 ° French window, and its indoor space covering an area of 300 ㎡ seamless blend with outdoor natural forests, lawns and waterside terrace. It would be a unique experience to hold a banquet, clothing show, auto show or any other activities in a such a forest-like place.
The design of water route is based on the original landform of the wetland, enabling people who are accustomed to land transporting to travel along the ancient waterway to the hotel. In the water waves stirred by the oars, people could appreciate the beauty of XIXI Wetland from a different perspective.
Landscape design follows the overall concept of “ecology first” and adopts small-scale, point-type juxtaposition to the building space.
Lighting design is based on the moonlight with an expectation to transit from artificial to natural appropriately.
While rambling in the XIXI Wetland, MUH SHOOU XIXI hidden in the dense forest quietly interprets the poetic aesthetics of primitive nature.
