Henan, China
The Sky Yards Hotel, created by the Domain Architects, is located in the industrial area of Henan and it consists of an interesting design with pitched roofs, floor-to-ceiling windows, and deep balconies.
Surrounded by a suspended construction site, wasted land, and shabby factories, this 48-room hotel in a small town is definitely not blessed with a beautiful site. Fortunately, Taihang Mountain is visible from two major sides.
The Sky Yards Hotel was short-listed for a 2021 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Usually, a hotel room would be designed as an outward box to maximize the view. As a consequence, the hotel building would be a collection of boxes.
The architects rejected this conventional model and reinvented the actual experience in a typical unit:
1. Block the exterior view below eye-level
2. Enlarge the opening to bring in more light and wind
3. Withdraw the glass enclosure inward to create a micro courtyard with a beautiful, scroll-like view of the sky and the mountain far away.
Vary in size and room type, the units pile up to form the volume of the hotel.
The result also evokes the gables in nearby villages or the outline of the mountain.
Project: Sky Yards Hotel
Architects: Domain Architects
Associate Architects: Henan Urban & Rural Design Institute
Client: Meijuan Ma
Contractor: Henan Jutailong Construction Engineering Co. Ltd.
Photographers: Domain Architects
