OR RESPECT FOR NATURE THROUGH ARCHITECTURE
Built by Vector Architects northeast of Beijing, the Wulingshan Eye Stone Spring reinvents architecture designed for spas and baths.
There are projects that like to unsettle our perception, to question our expectations in terms of architectural aesthetics. Wulingshan Eye Stone Spring is one such project. A factory? A machine room? A Carlo Scarpa-style storage facility? With its gray dress, its high silhouette topped with chimneys, all options seem conceivable, but not that of the spa, a universe for which our eye seems to have been too accustomed to a very precise grammar. And yet, this is precisely the type of place conducive to relaxation that has taken up residence here.
" We imagined the building as a hot spring feature, slightly touching the natural slope. To minimize the building's impact on the original landscape, we raised the main building. The whole structure is supported by 10 columns sunk into the earth ," explains the Beijing-based architectural firm.
The long building concentrates its functional spaces in a tower to the west. Service areas are located in the heart of the building to the east. Here, verticality prevails 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 decorates the three levels. Firstly, teak in the central space on the second floor, which serves as a reception area. On the second floor, it's time for relaxation; visitors are confronted by the vegetation, which is omnipresent in the space thanks to the glass windows, offering an exceptional view. Finally, on the last level, dedicated to bathing, concrete takes center stage. Through banded windows above the water's surface on the west facade, guests can immerse themselves in the water, or gaze out towards the cliffs of the neighboring valley, or into the tops of the flourishing trees that envelop the building. A new architectural language that renews the genre.
VECTORARCHITECTS.COM
