YES.ARCH shapes this tiny hotel around 'twin garden' courtyards in china

two ‘twin gardens’ courtyards in the mountain

YES.ARCH unveils its ‘twin gardens’ boutique hotel near the yudu mountain overlooking china‘s flat yanhuai basin. the guesthouses are organized around two courtyards deep inside the village. the design team takes advantage of the courtyards’ existing buildings, considering the economy of construction, and maintaining a respect for the surrounding context. the owners, twin brothers, note their requirements: ‘first, the renovation must not join the two courtyards into one so to respect existing property boundaries; and second, courtyards’ main entrances’ location should not be changed due to ‘fengshui’ reasons.’

images by yumeng zhu

the team at YES.ARCH comments on the spirit of its ‘twin gardens’ boutique hotel: ‘we hope architecture could provide suitable conditions for mountain viewing, rather than submitting nature environment by erecting ‘phallist’ objects. this attitude, therefore, decides buildings’ simple color, and humble architectonic presentation. the only eye-catching elements are gardens’ thrive plants. the project is as if lost and being discovered again. the only job architect carry is to clean and restore.’

the design by yes.arch

YES.ARCH continues, elaborating on the design of twin gardens: ‘we implant a north-facing ‘gloriette’ in each site as both living room and ‘anchor’ for collective activities. with its spectacular view of yudu mountain, the gloriette merges itself into the garden when its folding door fully opened, while allowing breeze and sunlight in.‘

‘in sunny days, people can climb up to south gloriette’s roof for panorama of the basin at south. white stucco paint covers most building surfaces, which helps the new courtyard blending among neighboring houses that are all use this same material.‘

YES.ARCH notes: ‘the two twin gardens are fundamentally different although with somewhat resemble style. all activity spaces in south garden- includes a pool, an open cinema, and a meeting place with a semi-outdoor bar- are spreading across the site circling the gloriette, being surrounded by various sizes’ circular plant pools with high grass.

‘as a mirroring image, activities in north garden are surrounding a centralized plant pools in the middle of the garden. this reverse strategy is hoped to differentiate two sites and provoke imaginative ways of using these outdoor spaces. the thriving, wild and vicissitude of plants, as well as energetic outdoor events, are merged as a colorful foreground for the ‘everlasting’ mountain scenery of both living rooms.’