Yun Lake Courtyard Resort

Mono Photo Center

• Architects & Designers

Architecture invites nature

Meijie.Xiuju（Yun Lake Courtyard Resort) is located in Yixing City, Jiangsu Province, on a hillside adjacent to the bank of Yun Lake. The building was originally a spare enclosed office building. Due to its unique location adjacent to the scenic spot, the owners wanted to transform it into a boutique resort hotel in order to promote the local tourism industry. Studio DOTCOF accepted the commission and carried out the renovation design.

photo_credit Zhuang Haolai — Zhuang Haolai

photo_credit Mono Photo Center — Mono Photo Center

During the initial site survey, the design team found that there were very beautiful and natural conditions around the building, not only lake scenery and mountain views in the distance, but also lush trees and plants nearby. However, the space of the original building is relatively closed, leaving it out of sync with the outdoor landscape.

In order to allow guests to experience more of the landscape and nature, and to have more relaxed physical and mental experiences, the designer made a special spatial treatment at the interface between the interior space and the outdoor landscape.

First, the design opens up part of the corridor area into a semi-outdoor corridor, allowing people to freely enter the inner courtyard; Then, drawing on the landscape and site characteristics, openings of the external wall were given a variety of forms, including long transverse windows, square windows, hollow holes, etc. The landscape and sunlight can now enter the building in different ways. Additionally, each room was given a balcony, each wide enough for guests to take a bath, drink tea, and experience the trees, sunlight, and air up close.

The selection of materials also tends to be natural and real. Solid woods, sandstone, brick, rattan mat, etc. are used in different areas of the space, allowing people to relax and be healed in nature's embrace.