JAXDA designs boutique hotel in remote bamboo forest in china

amidst a remote bamboo forest in anhui, china, shanghai-based firm JAXDA designed the miyuan hotel. the project is a 22-room boutique hotel where visitors can feel the passage of time and have close contact with nature. the site is hidden between the mountains of anhui, adjacent to the mouth of a dam and its river, and surrounded by hiking tracks that explore the bamboo forest. 

all images © amey kandalgaonkar

for the project, JAXDA adapted the surrounding, unused buildings and gave them different functions to meet the hotel’s needs. as guests enter the building, a contrasting dialogue begins between the exterior and the interior, the new and the old, humans and nature. the building is understood as a configuration of different volumes that make up the rooms connecting them through a corridor located in the northwest area of the building that allows the movement between different levels.

all the materials are natural and raw, adding to the connection to nature. the project uses stone bricks, wood and bamboo, focusing on the typical bamboo of the area. the designers used bamboo to create a cover façade reinterpreting a contemporary version of the traditional architectural use of it in the region. then, they integrated the north façade inside the surrounding bamboo forest. the bamboo poles are adjusted along the facade to form shadow blinds. 

a graphic play is created with the vertical lines of bamboo canes, which in turn allows viewers to view the exterior through the openings in the vertical elements. due to changes in temperature in the region, the diameter of the bamboo will vary with time, fracturing the organic surface of the bamboo and showing the wrinkles of time. this phenomenon that bamboo offers will naturally create a poetic VISUAL of time. 

all the hotel’s rooms face towards the south, equipped with large openings or terraces, allowing guests to glimpse to the greenery outside. the interior lacks pretensions, creating space through simple lines, giving greater importance to the exterior and creating a deep sensation by mixing the overflowing exterior nature with the interior.

the furniture was brought from the surrounding picturesque villages, making each piece unique.the pieces were restored to their original look, maintaining the character and original essence of the furniture. jaxda’s design of the miyuan hotel not only aims to accommodate guests under a climate of nature and comfort, but help them reflect regarding the connection between man and nature.

project info:

architecture: JAXDA

project name: miyuan hotel

location: anhui, china

area: 1700 m2 

project year: 2019 

photographer: amey kandalgaonkar

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: cristina gomez | designboom