Category: Residential
Principal Architect: Meng Yan

Technical Director:Zhu Jialin
Architecture Design: Huang Zhiyi,Yao Xiaowei, Zheng Ying | Zuo Lei, Liu Xiaoqiang, Ye Peijun, Li Da, Shen Yandan, Ji Yuyu, Zhang Zhen, Liu liu ,Xia Miao, Xiong Huijing
Landscape Design: Xing Guo,Wei Zhijiao | Ding Yu, Cedric Yu, Li Jing, Huang Yihong, Liao Zhixiong

 

Current residential designs in many Chinese cities are dominated by low-risk formulated plans and generic marketing strategies. This sales-dependent development has left few possibilities for architects to explore further creativity in design and experimentation. This hillside apartment, on the other hand, has its main goal of renting rather than selling, focusing on the idea of service apartments and a garden-themed hotel. Therefore the concept in designing and planning is able to depart from the stereotypical categories, seeking a more poetic and dynamic way of residential design.

The project returns to fundamental ideas in Chinese living as expressed by the saying “hills outside hills, and gardens inside gardens,” an idea referring to a continuous and occasionally repeating rhythm of space and form found in many traditional villages and mountainous landscapes. The relationship between nature and buildings is blurred in an attempt to create a new generation of urban living.

Located on the foot of the “south mountain”, the site is terraced and sloped. The buildings gently grow out from the landscape, taking on the angular characteristic of the geography while offering ponds and courtyards to the residents. Views from the units extend to several smaller courtyards where bamboo, pine, and plum blossom can be found. In the center of the site, a modest walkway forms a link over the water, bridging the interconnected gardens.

 

Credits and Data:

Project Location: Yanshan Road, Shekou, Nanshan District, Shenzhen
Project Period: 2005-2011; Project Status: Completed; Site Area: 13,198㎡; Floor Area: 21,540㎡
Client: China Merchants Real Estate Co. Ltd.
(CD) Structure/ MEP (Construction Document) Collaborator: The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Guangdong Province, Branch of Shenzhen
Interior Collaborator: Horizontal Space Design Shenzhen Co., Ltd.;
Facade Collaborator: Shenzhen Fangda Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd.
Photographer: Wu Qiwei

 

Awards & Publications:

2015 Honorable mention awards for Shenzhen Creative Design Award
2012 Best Residential Project & Best Preservation Project, Architectural Record China Awards 2012
2013 Nominated for Aga Khan Award for Architecture

Meng Yan. Beyond Mountains, Within Gardens. TA 2012(3) 90-97
Maillen Hotel & Apartment. Shenzhen Contemporary Architecture (2000-2015) 2016: 346-351
Maillen Hotel & Apartment. Architectural Record. 2012(6) 26-29
Maillen Hotel & Apartment. area 2012(3) 190-193
Maillen Hotel & Apartment. Archdaily website 2012.3