OR RESPECT FOR NATURE THROUGH ARCHITECTURE
Built by Vector Architects in northeast Beijing, the Wulingshan Eye Stone Spring reinvents architecture designed for spas and baths.
Some projects delight in challenging our perception, questioning our expectations of architectural aesthetics. Wulingshan Eye Stone Spring is one of them. A factory? A technical facility? A storage space reminiscent of Carlo Scarpa? With its gray cladding and soaring silhouette topped by chimneys, all possibilities seem plausible, except for a spa, a world for which our eyes seem too accustomed to a very specific visual language. And yet, it is precisely this type of place, conducive to rest and relaxation, that has found its home here.
« We envisioned the building as a device for the hot spring, gently touching the natural slope. To minimize the building's impact on the original landscape, we raised the main structure. Its entire structure is supported by 10 columns driven into the ground. " explains the Beijing-based architectural firm.
Stretching lengthwise, the building concentrates its functional spaces in a tower located to the west. Service areas are located in the heart of the building to the east. Here, verticality takes precedence in order to reduce the building's footprint and create a series of unique spatial experiences at different levels. As visitors ascend, new relationships between the surrounding trees, the cliff, and the distant mountain landscape are respectively highlighted. »
A trio of materials adorns the three levels. First, teak, in the central space of the first floor, which serves as the reception area. On the second floor, relaxation takes center stage; fortunate visitors are surrounded by lush vegetation, made omnipresent by the glazing, offering a breathtaking view. Finally, on the top floor, the bathing area, concrete reigns supreme. Through ribbon windows above the water's surface on the west facade, guests can immerse themselves in the water or gaze down at the cliffs of the neighboring valley or the treetops of the flourishing trees that envelop the building. A new architectural language that reinvents the genre.
VECTORARCHITECTS.COM
