Architects: Vector Architects
Area: 8290 m²
Year: 2023
Photographs: Hao Chen, Xu Jun, Pianfang Studio, DONG, Yuning Zheng
Principal Architect: Gong Dong
Project Architect: Han Zhang
Site Architects: Yaduo Liu, Zhengnan Xue
Construction Management: Liangliang Zhao, Jinteng Li
Project Team: Tianshu Guo, Xu Yan, Fanlin Gou, Yaduo Liu, Jinteng Li, Xiaokai Ma, Bo Mao, Qicheng Weng, Shida Liu, Andre Chedid, Xin Ai, Mofei Li, Yingyi Sun, Yudi Gao, Shipeng Guan, Wei Tao, Jiahui Li
Ceramic Art Avenue Lead Architect: Jie Zhang
Epc Lead: An-design Architects
Ceramic Art Avenue Project Architect: Jianxin Hu, Bingbing Zhang
Ceramic Art Avenue Architects Team: Wenxue Wu, Zhi Wang, Yongping Wang,Kai Zhong
Structural Design: Jueyang Zhang, Yahui Liu, Xin Bi
Mep Design: Yanan Yang, Juan Wang, Chunshuang Guo, Zhanwei Feng, Xiaofeng Shi, Hui Li
Landscape Design: Siyu Li, Mingyu Yu, Xu Yang
Façade Consultant: An-design Architects, LongBang Construction Co., Ltd.
Lighting Consultant: X Studio, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University
Timber Structural Consultant: IStructure & CROWNHOMES
Intelligent Building Consultant: BOE
Signage Design: Beijing SEED Cultural Media Co., Ltd.
Construction Contractor: Shanghai Greenland Construction (Group) Co. Ltd., Suzhou Gold Mantis
Construction Decoration: Shanghai Fair Face Concrete Technology & Development Co. Ltd.
Client: Jingdezhen Towyi Cultural Development Co., Ltd.
City: Jing De Zhen Shi
Country: China
Jingyang Camphor Court, designed by Vector Architects, is a tranquil courtyard hotel in the bustling heart of Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province. This city is historically renowned for its porcelain production. The site features mature camphor trees and various industrial relics, which the design aims to preserve and integrate into a harmonious public and private space.
Jingyang Camphor Court creates a serene courtyard in the center of Jingdezhen, a city famous for its porcelain production. Located amidst ongoing industrial heritage renewal projects, the site included a long, narrow industrial building, mechanical rooms, a dormitory, and a dilapidated pavilion. Mature camphor trees around these structures were central to the design, and their retention became a fundamental premise of the project.
The hotel’s design and organization differ from most, as the client requested that more than half of the program be open to the public. This criterion guided the arrangement and massing of both the existing and new volumes. The hotel embodies the spirit of an urban public living room combined with a culturally and human-oriented hospitality experience.
The central part of Jingyang Camphor Court features a wooden cloister encircling lush camphor trees, creating a unique atmosphere at the complex’s core. New hotel programs such as verandas, guest rooms, conference spaces, and restaurants are arranged around and connected to this central cloister. Site limitations precluded the creation of large public spaces beyond the cloister. The narrow distances between the walls of different volumes resemble the narrow widths of local vernacular buildings’ exterior walls, fostering an intimate, personal, and nostalgic atmosphere. Guests can discover different material tonalities along a path, akin to wandering through a maze.
The hotel’s western area includes a new courtyard-type building with three gable walls that advance and retreat to form small public plazas. From the exterior, these subtle setbacks from the existing straight street draw guests and the public inward. The entrance on the east side has a deliberately low and unassuming profile, harmonizing with the presence of trees and folded canopies. This subtle and human-oriented scale creates an intimate and welcoming arrival atmosphere. Hotel rooms in the old dormitory space, north of the central courtyard, retain the original walls while a new structure penetrates and extends from the existing volume. Each hotel room has a balcony facing the interior courtyard and the promenade spaces between buildings.
The new restaurant is located in the former factory structure on the site’s southern part. The original side walls of this industrial relic were preserved, with added thermal and sound insulation. Structural reinforcements included a new metal roof, enhancing safety. Ceiling heights were increased, and new skylights introduced, creating a more pleasant and contemporary atmosphere for guests while honoring the site’s industrial past.
The original buildings’ bricks had a red and orange hue, which influenced the new buildings’ tonal palette. Warm-colored concrete and a thin layer of similarly gradient tiles were used throughout. The external walls of both old and new volumes feature a mix of kiln and old clay bricks, with warm-colored concrete cast in place between them to create a harmonious transition between preserved and newly added elements. This materiality, color, and texture relate closely to Jingdezhen’s porcelain production history.
Jingyang Camphor Court offers a unique hotel experience with a publicly accessible courtyard. The preservation, renovation, and revitalization of an existing warehouse were central to the new program’s arrangement and massing, creating a new, inviting atmosphere and future for this hotel.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Xin Chang Xi Lu, Zhushan District, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
