Urban Forest Garden – International project

By Sunson Design, edited by Tarren Bolton

Nanbo Bay is adjacent to China Yinchuan Cultural Park and backed by wetland. Thousands of acres of lake city form a bay of beautiful scenery, with the half-moon-shaped river surrounding the buildings like a jade belt.

Abundant water resources and virescence led to the project theme of ‘Nature, Science, and Humanities’ for the Nanbo Bay One Reception Centre project. Sunson Design took full advantage of this ecological delight to leave visitors with an ecological urbanisation experience reflecting the area’s culture – surrounded by mountains and lakes.

Natural Ecology

The ‘Hall of Time’ is located at the entrance of the building, generating the first impression of the project which is natural, warm, mysterious, and full of the ritual sense that, by entering the hall, one will step into an ‘isolated’ natural park.

The divergent wooden dome simulates the sunlight, underneath which there is a circular water feature marked with an encryption: “Life should be spent on enjoying good things”.

The reception hall is a small ecological miniature of ‘city rainforest’ with a picturesque disorder of bamboo forests, banyan trees, plantains, and other fresh green plants. Wooden negotiation tables and chairs are ‘planted’ amongst low-lying shrubs and ferns, forming a longitudinal extension of the ‘indoor rainforest’.

Looking up to the top, cut pine and cypress trees are suspended, which reminds visitors to be in awe and return to nature. The corridor continues the natural ecological style, using logs, green plants, and undulating trees to enrich the spatial levels, the glass dome covering draws light into the room, illuminating the atrium, and emphasises the landscape the transition from the outside to the inside.

Step out of the ‘rain forest’ and walk into the sand table display area, where the small natural ecological landscape and stone walls highlight the key points of the space. The soft film ceiling above the sand table focuses the light and highlights the immortal moss as a decorative carpet below – echoing the natural theme. When you look up, there’s sunshine; and when you look down, it’s like walking on the bank of a river.

 The tranquil courtyard

 

There is a ladder book bar on the left side of the reception hall. The floor-to-ceiling glass introduces natural light, which increases the permeability, allowing readers to be in the ‘golden house’ enjoying some quiet reading time.

The bookshelf wall between the bar and the corridor is reminiscent the origins of the Yinchuan Water Tunnel Ruin to remind visitors of the prosperous and historical heritage of ancient Yinchuan 30,000 years ago with the sealed animal fossil specimens made from resin and iron.

In the dining area, continuous arch elements bring a sense of exoticism, reflecting the harmony, communication, and warmth of the space.

Bright wallpaper with melon and fruit patterns, bamboo screens and window lattices, and original wooden tables and chairs all continue the natural ecological characteristics.

The reception area is bright and private. The custom hanging lamp woven by hemp rope glitters like a galaxy. The office chairs made of half-wrapped flannel provide a sense of comfort.

The landscaped courtyard has its own unique features. The wooden sphere floor-to-ceiling sculpture remains motionless at the ‘opposite bank’, like a rock, a reed, a unique pastoral landscape.

The outer glass wall of the swimming pool creates the visual illusion of ‘zero gravity’, which makes people feel like they are swimming in the air, travelling around the world. Long wooden benches and stone sculptures surround the pool, and the natural lighting allows the space to blend trees, water, music, natural light, and stone carving in nature.

From the sun’s first rays in the morning, people enjoy being embraced by the nature in Nanbo Bay. When night arrives, they are greeted with a myriad twinkling lights around the warm harbour.

Project details:

Project name	Nanbo Bay One Reception Centre
Project location	Yinchuan, China
Construction company	YC JianFa Properties Ltd.
Client	YC JianFa Properties Ltd.
Project completed	November 2020
Indoor floor area	4 745m²
Interior design company	Sunson Design Ltd.
Design director	Jun Pan
Design team	Zhijun Luo, Xia Luo, Yuling Zou, Xuemei Chen, Qing He, Wenhao Ye, Xiaoyi Liu
Interior photography	Kanghui Zeng

 

About Sunson Design: Established in 1999 in Shenzhen, China, Sunson Design is an innovative design institution with an advanced managerial system and a multi-discipline professional design team. Successful projects cover corporate headquarters, innovative office space, architectural facade renovation, and hotel design. Over the past two decades, Sunson Design has served over 300 companies and private clients with its modern, professional, meticulous, personal, and unique services, which continue to win over leading enterprises in the tertiary industry as well as elite clients.

 

Source: V2com media

---