Qingshu Hotel, Dali, Yunnan, China

Project Name: Dali Qingshu Healing Resort Hotel

Covering a total of 70 acres, the project plans only 12 standalone Courtyards with traditional Bai-style stone and wood structures, ultimately creating just 17 guest rooms. With an extremely low-density, minimalist village-style layout, the architecture gracefully yields to nature.

On this vast 70-acre site, only 12 Bai-style stone and wood courtyards are scattered around. Local stone is used for walls, with old wooden beams and columns showcasing traditional textures. The buildings are low, humble, and unobtrusive, blending seamlessly into the fields and the Cangshan Mountains. Everywhere you look, you'll see paddy ridges. The overall plan follows the principle of restraint, allowing the architecture to hide within nature, becoming a gentle transition between the rice fields and the mountains.

The design core focuses on “coexistence of old and new, simplicity refined to essence,” preserving the original Bai stone walls, timber beams and columns, traditional joinery, and the texture of time to the fullest, continuing the local architectural narrative. On this foundation, contemporary healing living spaces are reconstructed, addressing issues common in old buildings like poor lighting, cramped proportions, and rough details, achieving a balance between revitalized traditional architecture and modern hospitality.

The interiors use a strong contrast aesthetic system: raw rough-hewn stone and aged wood meet modern materials like micro-cement, matte-textured fabrics, and delicate metal trims. By contrasting coarse and fine, old and new, rustic and elegant elements, the spaces retain a rustic charm while offering a refined, comfortable living experience.

A clever aspect of the project is the window-by-window orientation for optimal views. The team carefully calibrates each window's angle, size, and sightline according to the building's height, the direction of Cangshan, and paddy field views. Indoor blank spaces serve as canvases, while the mountains, clouds, and seasonal rice waves outside create dynamic scenery, blending the interior's calm with the exterior's living landscape.

Qingshu Hotel’s design vision is to create a relaxed village retreat in the mountains, where one can feel at home and at peace. “All journeys are ultimately about returning home.”