Project: Picking up light and fighting wilderness
Award: Silver, Workspace Interiors - Communal Areas, 2024
Location: Xianning, Hubei, China
Design Practice: C.H.Y Art and Design Consultants
Client: United Investments and Properties
C.H.Y Art and Design Consultant's design for community dining and drinking space, Picking up light and fighting wilderness, offers a flexible and open plan layout. The practice has shaped the boundaries of the space using flexible methods to define its various functions of dining, drinking, self-learning and parent-child activities.
The judges singled out the lighting and detailing, as well as the "very good material choice" for praise.
Upon entering the space, the reception bar and the operational bar are separated by a well-designed circulation path, ensuring they do not interfere with each other while visually forming a cohesive whole. “Our goal was to maximize the integration of the entire space without altering its structural form, blurring tangible boundaries, and enhancing the connection and interaction between different areas. We achieved this by using varying ceiling and floor heights and material changes to delineate the order between different functional zones, creating a richer and more diverse experience within the same space,” C.H.Y Art and Design Consultants said.
It added: "To ensure a sense of intimacy and freedom in the space, we did not follow the conventional approach of configuring a set number of booth seats for the restaurant. Instead, we used wooden furniture and soft furnishings to create scattered seating arrangements. This approach emphasizes the pure structural feel of the space while reducing the redundancy of hard partitions."
Design highlights
The long table in the discussion area, surrounded by rows of bookshelves, is set away from the bar, creating a relatively quiet zone within the space. This area also serves as another functional zone for community services, where residents and visitors can choose to learn various subjects at the Shiguang Classroom's long table—ranging from baking and flower arranging.
The lifestyle pavilion focuses on transforming and extending the existing structure to evoke a sense of refined relaxation, seamlessly integrating with the natural and rustic surroundings. It is intended to be an accessible space for community members, hotel guests, and campsite visitors alike, where they can feel at ease.
Photo credit: C.H.Y. Art & Design Consultants
- DESIGN DIRECTOR: Shaoqing Yan