I. Complex Challenges – Preservation, Restoration, Integration
This project is located in the Xiaomei Mountain Scenic Area, Taihu Lake Tourist Resort, Huzhou. Entrusted by the client, we undertook the overall landscape enhancement design for Xiaomei Mountain, which includes two parts: the renovation of Meishan Xiaozhu (hereinafter referred to as Guanhu (Lakeside) Hotel) and the second phase of the South Taihu Villa Conference Center (hereinafter referred to as Conference Center). The Guanhu Hotel is situated on the northern slope, with a significant height difference of 60 meters and a complex mountainous terrain, presenting existing issues such as "steep slopes, poor vegetation, difficult access, peculiar architecture, and desolate landscape." The Conference Center lies east of Taihu Lake and west of mountainous forests, featuring lush vegetation. It requires the addition of a 1,200 sqm large banquet hall to expand business event space. Our task is to maximize the protection and restoration of the mountainous landscape while enhancing the hotel guest experience and integrating the massive new banquet hall into the natural environment. These demands impose extremely high design requirements and strictly limit the available "design tools."

II. Ingenious Solutions – Low Intervention, Light Posture, Harmony with Nature
The more complex the problem, the more ingenious the solution should be.The design aims to "reshape the mountain forest," adopting an overall "low-intervention" principle.

——Guanhu Hotel
Adhering to the principle of "restore first, then intervene." Firstly, retain the original staggered terraces and retaining walls as the foundation. Secondly, renovate based on the existing structures to control building volume and minimize excavation. Finally, eliminate the winding mountain road, preserve existing trees, and replant to "re-green" the area. Following a series of restoration measures, we have obtained a "green carpet" nestled within the mountain forest.

Lightweight Transportation System
1. On this "green carpet," a pedestrian system is introduced in the form of fully elevated boardwalks that gently float above the forest. These boardwalks connect various nodes from top to bottom, including the main building's pool, viewing platforms, flower beds, and children's activity areas, allowing visitors to wander through the mountain forest with partially obscured views. 2. Due to the steep slope and narrow site, the original road was impassable. After removing the road for re-greening, the main transportation artery was relocated to the east side of the plot—a hillside elevator traversing the forest was installed. With multiple stops connected by boardwalks to all buildings, it also meets requirements for barrier-free access and cargo transport. 3. The original buildings lacked elevators, with various functional areas scattered across multiple terraces, making access difficult. A similar transportation relocation strategy was adopted—a concise external vertical elevator comprehensively addresses a series of issues including "minimal excavation, preserved views, and vertical circulation."

Light and Elegant Architectural Renovation
The original building's massive "triangular sloping roof"—dubbed "the mountain's gaping sharp teeth"—severely damaged the landscape view from the northern approach road. Therefore, focus was placed on the building facade renovation. Firstly, techniques such as removing sharp angles, reducing the number of stories, and vertical segmentation were used to control the building volume.

Then, modest building materials were employed, such as rubble stone, bluish-gray stone, concrete paint, and chestnut-colored bamboo wood, to control the color palette, allowing the facade to blend with the trees and mountain forest.

Finally, through green roofs, vertical greening, landscape courtyards, and replanting, the buildings are enveloped in greenery, achieving symbiosis between architecture and nature.

Five standalone guest room buildings are arranged staggered on the mountainside, each enjoying good views of the lake. Utilizing the original slopes, terraces, and retaining walls around each building, connecting bridges, boardwalks, and stairs were installed. This not only allows separate access to second and third-floor rooms but also enables individual access to the three first-floor rooms, achieving a flexible "separable and combinable" operational model.

At the base of the mountain, there was an existing structure resembling the buttress framework of a church, serving as a "retaining wall." After evaluation confirmed its structural stability, we adapted it into functional spaces like a children's activity center, staff dormitories, and equipment rooms. Additionally, its appearance was treated with terraced landscaping to soften its obtrusive visual presence.

Unique Guest Experience
All slopes within the site offer views of Taihu Lake, making the originally precious lake views commonplace within the hotel. The key to enhancing the guest experience was transforming the "ordinary" into the "breathtaking." A skybridge has been constructed at the highest point of the southern area, connecting the drop-off pavilion on Meishan Road and the main building roof.

After disembarking, guests bypass a scenery wall and enter a 40-meter-long, 2.4-meter-high bamboo wood entrance alleyway. Inside, their view is obstructed, allowing only a glimpse of the sky. At the alley's end, a screen door opens automatically, revealing a sudden expansive view: a pool of still water merging with the misty expanse of Taihu Lake, with a cluster of flames flickering above the water—clean and pure. Using the technique of "restraining before elevating," a wooden bridge, a tranquil pool, and a flame together create an arrival spectacle, illuminating the guest's check-in experience and fostering a sense of surprise.

Furthermore, the swimming pool is situated on the middle level among the clustered guest rooms. After integration with the third-floor guest room courtyards, a unique pool-access guest room level has been formed. The Taihu Lake scenery is incorporated into the guest room views, and guests can even jump directly into the pool, enjoying the wondrous experience of swimming as if in Taihu Lake itself.

——Conference Center
"Blending into the Mountain Forest" is one of the "low-intervention" strategies adopted based on the Conference Center's favorable natural conditions.

Gently Concealed Within Nature
I. Preserving Original Trees: Endeavor to preserve native trees, marking their species and locations; buildings are designed to encircle or avoid them. II. Embedded in the Mountain: Following the mountain's contours, approximately half of the building's volume is embedded into the hillside. The exposed portions receive landscaping treatment; bamboo groves add landscape layers to the roof, extending the natural ambiance of the mountain forest. III. Spatial Completion: In the overall layout, emphasis is placed on the spatial dialogue between old and new buildings. While ensuring the scenic views for the first-phase hotel, the new banquet hall also forms the first courtyard of the hotel's public area in conjunction with it. This preserves the memorial plaza while supplementing front-of-house service functions.

Light and Translucent Artistic Form
The formal language adheres to the principle of "transparency, thinness, lightness, and concealment." The single-curved floating canopy, made of light steel structure, is abstracted from the upturned eaves of traditional pavilions and towers, echoing the Taihu Tower atop the mountain. Drawing from the stone appreciation culture of "thinness, perforation and translucency," the floating canopy is integrated into the site with a light, translucent, and perforated posture. By drawing inspiration from local culture, it fosters empathy with nature, creating an ambiance for "multi-layered dialogue between humans and nature."

Light-Filled Box
The fully glazed main banquet hall is the core space, resembling a light-filled box nestled within the mountain. Natural sunlight and artificial lighting merge here. During the day, sunlight streams in from all sides, with bamboo groves outside the high windows faintly visible. At night, lights project bamboo shadows onto the high windows, creating a unique banquet atmosphere. The grid-ceiling system evolved from the large-span structure, forming a distinctive memorable feature of the banquet space.

III. Professional Management – Insights from EPC Practice
The primary motivation for gad to undertake EPC projects stems from the architect's proactive desire to achieve high standards of project quality and completion, extending the architect's role beyond design. Reflecting on this project, the successful high-quality realization throughout the entire process benefited from the following three aspects:
1. Comprehensive Professional, High-Efficiency, High-Standard Project Control: With gad architects leading the EPC project, for demanding projects like hotels and conference centers involving numerous and complex specialized subcontractors (interior finishing, curtain walls, HVAC, structure, etc.), effective and efficient control has been maintained even within the tight 270-day schedule.

2. On-Site Full-Process Tracking, Timely Anticipation, and Adjustment: Designers conducted full-process tracking and on-site management at the construction site. This enabled timely anticipation, adjustment, and high-quality solutions regarding material samples, on-site effects, etc., without impacting cost or schedule.

3. Deep Cross-Departmental Collaboration: Active, deep, and efficient collaboration among the client, procurement, construction, design teams, and various design units within the EPC project framework ensured smooth project progression.

Through this project, we have conducted beneficial explorations in addressing complex mountainous terrain and site conditions. Under the overarching principle of "low intervention," we have successfully achieved the design goal of "maximizing the protection and restoration of the northern slope landscape of Xiaomei Mountain." Initially, the Guanhu Hotel was planned for comprehensive renovation. However, due to drawings, schedule, and other reasons, the client decided to retain only the renovation of the retaining wall structure at the base, demolishing and rebuilding all other main buildings. For the meticulous design thinking in the early stages, this remains an unrealized regret. As for the Conference Center, through the joint efforts of all parties upholding eco-friendly and green concepts, it has been ultimately successfully presented. We hope it will settle over time and grow naturally and unassumingly by Taihu Lake, alongside Huzhou's mountain forests.

Project Name: Meishan Xiaozhu Renovation / Conference Center
Project Location: Huzhou, Zhejiang, China
Detailed Address: No. 1, Meishan Road, South Taihu New Area, Changxing County, Huzhou City / South side of the Intersection of Taihu Road and Binhu Avenue
Designed in: March 2021
Completed in: August 2022
Site Area: 7185㎡/9981㎡
Floor Area: 9515.92 ㎡/4880 ㎡
Plot Ratio: 1.31 / 0.45
Design Unit: gad
Client: Huzhou Chengtou Guanhu Hotel Co., Ltd.