Spring Patio

“Under the moon in the mountain, a clear view unveils on Spring Patio. Guess where our new work is? Just in Taikoo Li Sanlitun, the renowned bustling commercial street in Beijing. Some may say there’s no such romantic land in this over-modernized street. How lucky enough, we found a spot in the far-right side of the business district, which departs itself from the main street, shielding amounts of buzz out. The location creates a rather chilling atmosphere, giving comers a sense of easiness when walking in, which resembles the feeling in hill climbing in spring.

Creating a mountain and moon view in city center

Surely there’s no majestic mountains in city center, so what’s the plan to create a city version of Spring Patio？ We decide not to copy the same scenery, but to grasp its essence of chill feeling. We’ve thought through the spatial structure and determined to strengthen spatial depth and light and shadow effect to enhance its spaciousness. A beam runs through in the original spatial structure, we added a column just at the junction of the upper beam, so it looks like a big cross supporting the interior space viewing from the entrance. This column just elongates the depth without hindering the spaciousness and comfort of it. Above the cross structure, we made a sloping ceiling which naturally drives sight up and a round of full moon with warm light film which looks just like moonlight streaming down. At the other end of the hall, a piece of turquoise looked towards the full moon. The glass curtain wall above introduces strong outdoor light, pouring on this piece of green. Everyone knows the saying A winding path leads to a secluded place, but do you know what the last sentence of it is? It’s First ray of sunshine in the morning sheds on high woods. And this piece of green just creates a scenery like that.

The mountain has a small mouth, as if there is light. At the foyer, the entrance, and the stairs to the rooftop, we all took a little thought and made a little twist. Considering the low height at the entrance, we made it in the shape of a hole, which fits well to the famous prose The mountain has a small mouth, as if there is light. You do not directly enter the hall after the hole, but following the guidance of the dim light, pushing the door and turning around once again. Then you may see the hidden wonders. The openness of the hall may bring you a feeling of delight as oppose to the winding path and dim light. And there’s more than one winding path. Behind the hall, next to the kitchen, a long and narrow staircase leads to the wine storage area. Here, you can not only see the full moon up close and overlook the hall as if you were on the top of the mountain, more interestingly, the slope is designed upwards to the fourth-floor terrace.

Some hidden spaces

Opposite the full moon, there’s a long and narrow path leads to the bar area. This square inch is exclusive to drinkers. More or less, people coming in here desire to be out of the world shortly no matter drinking alone or together. A winding path completes the transition of space and transition of mood, from restlessness to peace. The space under the full moon and inside the column faces directly to the kitchen and the path leading to the bar. We set up a screen here which can be opened or closed on demands, so that guests will not be disturbed by human waves during their dining. Sometimes, space needs to be connected, and sometimes hidden. This sounds just like the way of interpersonal communication.

A space with good texture is where people want to stay

A fancy outlook may be able to attract people in, but what retains people is the texture of the space. If you want to stop people from stepping out, the space cannot be too noisy in color, nor too dazzling in the light. We used low-key cement gray and matched it with rustic wood color, which expressed the idea of dust and earth. The windows and curtain walls are made of brown frosted translucent material to filter out strong light and create a hazy atmosphere. Given that the natural light is already bright enough, we added some indirect lights as supplementary light source. Because soft light eases human minds.

A little off-topic note:

We thought over and over again how to convey a round idea of Spring Patio. In order to do that, efforts must be paid to details to create a subtle feeling of detachment. The first idea bumping to our mind is the winding path, and this beautiful word originally came from this poem:

“At the break of dawn I wandered in the ruins of an ancient temple, seeing the first ray of sunshine in the morning sheds on high woods. The winding path leads to the secluded place, and the meditation room is deep with flowers and trees. Mountain light delights birds, and pool shadows cleansed people's minds. Everything gave way to silence here, only the chime of the bell resonates.”

In the whole design process, we have encountered many difficulties. Whether it is the demand adjustment of the owner or the strong intervention of the property owner, we have made many possibilities for the design of the space.

“Under the moon in the mountain, a clear view unveils on Spring Patio.”