Guesthouses and reception hall in the mountains

Comprising the second stage of the Shan Tea Production complex set in the tea-producing mountain ranges Xishuanbanna, Yunnan Province, the guest reception centre and guest rooms are intended to service wider needs of team communication and brand development. They allow important distribution partners/collaborators as well as selected clients to be accommodated on site to participate in important communication events. Here they may partake in short-stay workshops to learn about the history of the locale, the culture of tea-making, accessing mountains and villages where leaves are sourced, and to learn about the actual processes of tea-making.

Overlooking treetops to distant vista, 40 guest houses are planned in two distinct clusters enjoying different scenery, which may be constructed in phases. The architecture is characterised by linearly connected rooms oriented along the topography, featuring generous shared balconies and walkways, and open terraces that promote engagement with the environment. There are single or two-story structures, occupying varying heights on the hill. They extend along the topography gently and are inter-connected by open walkways and staircases.

A consistent, humble material palette of site-cast concrete, rough natural stone, generous windows, and rustic steel-mesh balustrades, echoes coherently the language of the entire complex.

The reception centre sits just above the main cluster of guest suites, and provides a shop, various tea-rooms, a library, and an exhibition space highlighting the culture and history of the making of the region. Rather than emphasising privacy as in a holiday resort, guest rooms are connected and open, intended to promote a sense of community communication rather than seclusion. Shared indoor and outdoor tea-rooms are inter-dispersed throughout.