A Day’s Encounter with Light—— Lighting Factory Transformed into "Red Brick Art Hotel"
Aero Nansha Innovation Factory/ PMT Partners Ltd.
一、Reconstruction of brand space under the transformation of intelligent manufacturing
In the Made in China 4.0 era, traditional manufacturing is accelerating its transformation from OEM to OBM independent brands. The upgrading of traditional industries is no longer limited to technology iteration and production capacity optimization, but also points to the deep proposition of "visualizing brand value".
For Aero, which is deeply involved in the lighting field of five-star hotels and serves more than 300 high-end customers around the world, they have already become a leader in the industry and enjoy considerable international reputation. Aero has the ambition to take the brand to another dimension. They hope to create an "immersive field that integrates technological experience, local culture and brand narrative", intuitively convey core competitiveness, and realize the value leap from "Made in China" to "Chinese Brand".
Against this background, PMT Partners needs to solve three core issues: first, to break the separation between "production and experience", allowing customers to intuitively experience the full-chain service capabilities from R&D to production during the visit; second, to blur the boundary between "factory and hotel", in line with the core business attributes of brand service five-star hotels, so that the space experience echoes product application scenarios; third, to achieve a balance between "regional culture and international aesthetics", which is both rooted in China and resonates with overseas customers.
二、A Day’s Encounter with Light —— Lighting Factory Transformed into "Red Brick Art Hotel"
Aero Light Innovation Factory is located in Nansha New District, Guangzhou, about 30 minutes' drive from the city, with a total construction area of about 13,000 square meters. PMT Partners deeply couples the "miniature five-star hotel scene" with "production, research, office, exhibition, and tourism". It connects all indoor and outdoor functional areas with the theme of "playing with light in the garden" to create an immersive path of "a one-day encounter with light", making every step a process of dialogue with light. The entire site has been transformed from a lighting factory into a "red brick art hotel".
2.1 Circulation design: Transformation from “efficient direct access” to “slow experience”
Circulation design of traditional factories pursues production efficiency and is often a linear "two points and one line". However, we do the opposite and adopt a circuitous line layout to deliberately lengthen the travel path. The core of this "slow design" strategy is to allow visitors to withdraw from the hustle and bustle of the city, complete the psychological transition from "industrial scene" to "experience space", and allow the "experience of light" to start quietly before entering the building.
We were inspired by the 《Twelve Months of the Qing Dynasty》 painting, in which scattered perspectives depict the scenery and people's activities in different seasons. This multi-layered and multi-dimensional courtyard scene has people in groups, interspersed among them, inside the courtyard, outside the lakeside and in front of the mountains, each with its own different experience. As the scroll extends, various scenes slowly appear, and this is exactly the garden experience we want to pursue.
The entire circulation follows the complete link of "seeing from afar → walking into the garden → visiting the foyer → brand introduction → immersive experience → salon activities → key exhibitions → signing → tea break", corresponding to the six experience stages of "browsing the light, finding the light, playing with the light, tasting the light, smelling the light and bathing in the light". From the main entrance garden to the second-floor water courtyard, from the exhibition hall to the laboratory, we divide the entire browsing process into different time slices. Each slice will have independent display scenes and light and shadow interaction nodes, allowing visitors to continuously encounter different forms of light in the circuit. In addition, we had an in-depth discussion with the Aero team about the duration of each time slice and the script of the explanation. During the entire tour, the brand's core business was naturally integrated into the experience process. Instead of deliberately discussing specific products, we focused more on the atmosphere, implementation and service system, thereby building awareness and trust of both parties.
2.2 Unbounded design: integrated symbiosis of architecture, landscape and interior
PMT Partners believes that the true immersive experience lies in breaking the boundaries between architecture, landscape and interior. In the design of Aero Innovation Factory, through the coherence of materials, elements and emotions, a spatial perception is created that feels like walking in a garden hotel.
Bricks and water elements are both "boundless links" connecting the inside and outside. The design sets up a landscaped shallow pool in the courtyard on the first floor, extending to the indoor lobby; an enclosed water courtyard is created on the second floor, forming a spatial pattern that echoes from top to bottom. The warm and moist nature of water not only neutralizes the coldness of the industrial space, echoing the regional genes of "farming and fishing" in Dongyong Danjia Water Town, but also combines with lighting to form a rich visual effect - the underwater light strips interweave with the reflection of the building, becoming a natural carrier to display Airo's full-scenario lighting environment solution. Through the full penetration of red bricks and water, and the combination of "circular movement lines, scene pauses, and sensory stimulation", we have created a unified emotional tone for the entire space, allowing visitors to completely break away from the "sense of efficiency of a factory" and instead immerse themselves in the "sense of relaxation of an art hotel."
三、Space strategy: functional integration and brand experience implementation
3.1 Enter the realm: courtyard guidance with light and shadow prelude
When visitors walk in from the main entrance, the first thing they encounter is the "light and shadow screen" made of hollow red bricks - as a transition between the entrance and the main body of the building, it plays a role as a spatial buffer; this is the first "stage" designed for "light". During the day, sunlight penetrates the pores of the hollow bricks, projecting dense and dense light spots on the ground. At night, LED light strips outline the outline of the screen through the brick seams, forming a "light paper-cut" effect, paving the way for "encounter".
The winding corridor deliberately lengthens the traveling path. The combination of the overhanging eaves and grilles of the corridor not only continues the wisdom of "shading and sheltering from rain" in Lingnan architecture, but also allows light to penetrate softly. Visitors move slowly, passing the red bricks, passing through the shadows of trees, and approaching the pool. They relax and gradually enter the immersive state of "dialogue with light".
3.2. Exploring the Mysterious: the emotional pull of the garden tour route
Defined by the red wall, you can walk across the plank road over the water to enter the indoor reception hall. The waterscape of the courtyard is connected to the interior, forming an unbounded whole. The slightly sloping wooden veneer wall is reflected in the water along with the winding walk. The light diffuses upward from the water, illuminating the texture of the wood veneer, making the wall seem to be "suspended on the water", further enhancing the lightness of the space. The low railings illuminate the plank road floating on the water, guiding people to follow the lights and continue exploring the park.
When the circulation reaches the depths of the courtyard, a highly sculptural red staircase becomes the "turning point" of the spatial narrative. The spiraling shape not only strengthens the guidance of vertical traffic, but also strongly echoes the color of the Aero theme brand.
Warm-toned lights are embedded in the outer panel, forming a dual resonance of material and color with the red brick facade: the light shines from the outside of the stairs, and when people go up the stairs, the lights light up layer by layer. People enter the "indoor water courtyard" on the second floor from the "landscape courtyard" on the first floor, completing the first level of "encounter with light".
3.3 Observing the mind: the immersive climax of light and shadow in the water courtyard
The water courtyard on the second floor is the core scene of " A Day’s Encounter with Light" and is also a key space for displaying the strength of the brand system. The design creates an oriental Zen space through a combination of mirrored pools, atomization devices and hidden lighting. The sunlight refracts sparkling waves on the water, and the light strips interweave with the reflection of the building to form a "suspended light box."
The lighting system of the water hospital is linked with Aero intelligent lighting products. Visitors can switch between different lighting scene modes with one click through the APP, fully experience the multi-dimensional changes in human factors and rhythmic lighting, and intuitively feel the product strength of Aero "full scene lighting environment".
In order to enhance the sense of immersion, we implanted a fragrance system around the water courtyard. The smell of cedar and sandalwood is diffused with the water mist, and combined with the sound of gurgling water, it forms a synaesthesia experience of "vision - hearing - smell" - this immersion of the five senses is the epitome of Airo's concept of "Five Stars Are My Heart" for hotel customers.
Around the water courtyard, we have laid out a "miniature light and shadow theater" based on the core functional area of a five-star hotel, including functional spaces such as business meetings, executive lounges, vacation rooms, and business banquets. These spaces are not isolated display areas, but are deeply integrated with office functions - the executive lounge also serves as a customer negotiation function, the conference room is equipped with the same intelligent lighting system as the hotel banquet hall, and the office areas are scattered around the water courtyard, allowing employees and customers to work and communicate in a "hotel-style scene". We hope that through this layout, we can convey a sense of relaxation and allow business activities to occur naturally in a comfortable and comfortable atmosphere.
A quiet water courtyard is enclosed between the "wooden boxes" - the side walls of the exterior facade pass through the gaps in the red bricks, and light and shadow seep into the interior from the outdoors. The ground and walls project "star spots of light". These spots move with the change of the altitude angle of the sun, forming a "walk of light."
In order to integrate the "experience of light" into the design of daily work, there are multiple "micro office areas" scattered around the water courtyard: some are set up on the outside of the wooden box of the business suite, with workstations for 1-2 people facing the window; some are equipped with high stools and laptop stands next to the bar in the executive lounge, and some are set up with small conference tables at the corners of the corridors, suitable for group discussions. These office areas are naturally integrated into the gap between the water courtyard and the "wooden box". Employees can freely choose their office location according to the day's work needs, which is also a relaxing experience.
3.4 Art Appreciation - Experimentation and co-creation of light and shadow
In the final stage of the exhibition, after experiencing the miniature five-star hotel scene, we will enter a corridor of technology and craftsmanship and participate in Aero light and shadow laboratory and product co-creation space.
Product Co-creation Space: A "Light and Shadow Co-creation Laboratory" is set up, and a "Lamp Customization Toolkit" is provided — the system generates 3D effects and light and shadow simulation diagrams in real time, and can also "implant" the hotel project scene that the customer is designing through VR equipment. The powerful product library is also real-time linked with the lighting display in the ceiling niche, realizing "what you see is what you get" according to the user's requirements.
四、The Whisper of Bricks
“Even a brick wants to be something”
——The master’s words seem to be most suitable for the current transformation of China’s intelligent manufacturing. All walks of life are undergoing crazy involution, but no matter how ordinary you are, you still need to have the determination to be something.
The choice of using red bricks in the Aero project this time is mainly due to the following considerations:
1. Functionally, red bricks have good air permeability and durability, and are adapted to the climate characteristics of the Pearl River Delta;
2 From the perspective of the brand, its warm tones echo the main color of Ai Luo's brand. The rough texture conveys the brand's core tone of "warmth and temperature", and the durability is a metaphor for the brand's persistence in quality;
3 From a cultural perspective, red brick is a commonly used material in traditional buildings, carrying local memories, and through the empowerment of modern masonry technology, it can become a medium that connects tradition and modernity. Through changes in brick modulus and different masonry techniques, we allow red bricks to form rich light spots during the day and become a carrier of light and shadow at night. Using the power of design to give this ordinary traditional material a new lease of life in an intelligently manufactured space is also a declaration of being something different.
五：Design empowers intelligent manufacturing, and space is the concrete expression of brand value
The design of the Aero Lighting Nansha Innovation Factory is essentially the answer of the PMT Partners to the "space value of the Made in China 4.0 era" - it proves that the factory can no longer be a "cold production container", but a brand carrier that is "cultural, experiential and capable of narrative". The brand upgrade of physical enterprises requires space as support, and space design must also closely follow the pulse of the industry.
When foreign friends walk between the red bricks and the water courtyard, they marvel that "this is not like a factory, but more like a red brick art hotel." This "cognitive gap" is exactly what the PMT partners wants to express: through the narrative experience of "playing with light in the garden," "Intelligent Made in China" is no longer an abstract slogan, but light, shadow, materials, emotions, and services within reach.
The last thing I want to say is——
“Even a brick wants to be something”（砖，亦有其志）——louis kahn