mat office frames ocean views in summer hotel in chinese island

a filmmaker couple, fascinated with the peace and simple lifestyle of the old fishing villages, commissioned mat office to design a beachside hotel in china. while their old house was under construction in zhujiajian island, zhoushan, the couple wanted to do something to make their hometown more attractive to tourists in the now bustling village.

upon visiting the village, the architects encountered many buildings under construction, where each family was building a ‘european style’ villa. this phenomenon is also present in other countryside villages in the zhejiang province. the hotel’s site is right at the north-west part of the village, facing the bay and a sandy beach. when mat office started the design process, the main structure of the four-story building was almost finished.

the designers were challenged to design a 12-room mini hotel with neighbors under construction as close as two meters away. mat office turned away from the popular ‘european style’ to find an alternative way within the context of the vernacular architecture of the building. this way, they could bring another possibility of the site-specific residential building.

the architects found a way to define spatial patterns using the building itself, instead of the decorative facade. the former floor plan layout required more usage area but ignored the interaction between building space and the sea. so they intervened the original structure by bringing a ‘balcony’ element, resulting a new sea-viewing interface. with the inspiration of can lis from the architect jorn utzon, the added balconies not only enriched the spatial layer from the interior to the seaside, but also frame the view from the inside-out, which could benefit each room with a unique ocean view.

the balconies provides a more functional way for people to perceive the world outside the building from its interiors, rather than simply having a view of the sea. for the people in the room, the framed view disregards the chaotic scenes from the fishing village, and focus on the relaxing sea beyond. on the south side towards the mountain and the village, the added balconies create a stacking form, simple yet powerful, which also imitate the mountain shape.

mat office aims to give the building a soft character with a rough surface, referencing flowers growing on the seaside reefs. they also wanted to expose the simple building features and strip away its vulgar decorative symbols, making it functional and site-specific, even poetic at times. the architects wanted to provide the local people with another possibility to the building facade language, instead of the symbolic ‘euro-style’ decoration. this way people who live by the sea could able to build houses with the primary consideration of their own lifestyle, rather than defining the self-identity by blindly following the symbolic building facade.

an ancient village tradition was to gather under the trees, and the designers made sure to keep this custom alive. the site’s original height difference was preserved, and the new design created a continuous landscape experience by guiding movement from the seaside to the front door. the path starts under the tree shadow at the north-west corner. people turn back to the sea, enter the front gate, go up the steps alongside the wall to the sea-view platform. the platform is built with the five trees originally on site, as an extension from the internal floor to the sea, forming a folded retreat to the open field.

three different materials were applied to this geometric platform in order to form a wave-like pattern, and connect the wooden floor to the sandy beach. on the platform under the five trees, the master grown up in the village would invite neighbors and passers-by to come and have a drink. this inspired the designers to create a similar atmosphere of interaction. as a resort space, the design also paid more attention on the interior public space. the architects set two public spaces in different levels, with sights of the sea and the mountains.

the public space wth ocean view hosts the main living and dining space on the ground floor, providing reception and leisure functions. the sky living room which faces the mountains on the fourth floor, is used as the sharing living space for the upper level rooms and attic room. the original ground floor has several columns and a very limited height, so the designers introduced two colors to create the space. by contrasting partitions in yellow and white, the surrounding yellow part is used as front door, dining space and tea bar, while the central white part, which is wrapped by the yellow, is used as reception and leisure space.

mat office deliberately exposed the beams and columns in the white part, and illuminated them to show the tension of the building structure itself. the added lighting also increases the comfort in the low height space. the four-glass sliding door, which can be completely open, allows the integration of the interior space and the exterior sea-viewing platform.

limited by the rural construction technology, the dense columns in the building create an abstract experience. with the building elements expose their structure and contrast with the different materials. the space is ought to be simple, and make guests focus on the sea and the disappearing horizon. one can also spend a whole day quietly in this space and experience the monumentality brought by dense pillars against the everyday nature of the seaside life.

project info:

project: zhoushan summer hotel

location: zhujiajian island, zhoushan, zhejiang province

architecture & interior design: mat office

design team: tang kangshuo, zhang miao, wang feiyu, zhang shuang, fang wenjing(intern)

built area: 790m2

completion: 2019.07

photographer: tang kangshuo

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