Floating Hotel / MORE Architecture

Architects: MORE Architecture
Area: 6,000 m²
Year: 2023
Photography: Kris Provoost
Lead Architects: Daan Roggeveen
Structure: ECADI
Contractor: Zhejiang Dadongwu Construction Company
Concept, Schematic Design: Sander Marino, Xue Guangjie, Adrian Briega Muñoz, Lai Zheheng, Sun Furui, Jui-Heng Chuang
Design Development, Construction Drawings: Emilio Wang, Pedro Martins, Lina Peng, Mari Moldre
Interior Design, Furniture Design: Mae Szto, Jeffrey Kuo, Bernie Wang
Program / Use / Building Function: Hotel
Client Contact: Robert Chen
Client: Huazhang Real Estate
City: Huzhou
Country: China

The Anji Hotel, a boutique hotel designed by MORE Architecture in Anji, Huzhou, China, epitomizes architectural innovation that merges seamlessly with its natural surroundings. This hotel, completed in 2023, not only provides a retreat from the urban sprawl but enhances the visitor’s engagement with the landscape. Floating above the hills, the structure offers an immersive experience with nature, accentuated by its sustainable design and materials. Through its unique approach to hotel room layouts and the integration of natural and architectural elements, the Anji Hotel represents a significant step in domestic tourism, offering an escape to nature for China’s growing middle class.

In Anji, a rural area three hours from Shanghai, MORE Architecture has designed the Anji Hotel, a boutique establishment that appears to float above the hills. Positioned amidst mountainous bamboo forests, the hotel fosters a deep connection with the natural environment.

Over the last four decades, China has transitioned from a predominantly rural society to one with some of the world’s largest and most populated urban centers. The rise in domestic tourism is driven by urban residents seeking a rural escape, a trend that the Anji Hotel directly addresses.

It is strategically located in Dachangping, a bamboo-rich region at the heart of the urbanized Yangtze River Delta, making it the area’s pioneering structure.

Beneath a folded zinc roof, the architects have arranged four distinct transparent communal areas: a lobby, a yoga room, a restaurant, and a versatile space for events like weddings and celebrations, all offering views of the dramatic valley. This roof facilitates a seamless flow from nature to architecture, guiding guests across a terrace and through open-air spaces from one glass-enclosed area to another, with French doors marking the transition from indoors to outdoors.

Below these communal amenities, the hotel’s eighteen rooms are uniquely situated to maximize guest interaction with the outdoors. Instead of enclosed hallways, guests access their rooms via external staircases, maintaining a constant connection with the surrounding environment.

Daan Roggeveen, one of the lead architects, explained that for the hotel rooms’ floor, they chose to challenge the traditional layout. By avoiding typical corridor access, the team designed three distinct room types: narrow single-loaded rooms with dual-aspect views, exceptionally wide double-loaded rooms, and corner suites with dual-direction vistas. An outdoor corridor meanders past these accommodations, emphasizing the integration with the natural landscape.

The structural choice of steel elevates the building eight meters above the hills, intensifying the drama of the space beneath, where a swimming pool and changing rooms are situated. This elevation allows nature to flow uninterrupted beneath the hotel structure.

In crafting a warm, inviting atmosphere, MORE selected specific woods for the floors, ceilings, and room fittings. The studio-designed wooden furniture, along with terrazzo for desks and bars, enhances the aesthetic and functional qualities of the hotel’s interior spaces.