GroupGSA has just completed the work at the Huangyao Ancient Town Resort in Guilin, China, inspired by the natural landscape and topography, local culture and wildlife and the timeless flow of the river that has washed and sculpted the landscape.
Directed by GroupGSA’s designer Alina Valcarce, the Huangyao Ancient Town Resort comprises 103 rooms and 27 villas with a full suite of resorts and recreational facilities including gym, spa, family pools, a lookout tower, a mountain trail, restaurants international and Chinese, a library, sports equipment and a playground for children.
The design of GroupGSA creates curved and mountainous shapes that rise as if they were born from the surrounding landscape. The slightly curved shapes of the building echo the topographical lines of the area and combine with the surrounding Karst hills and ancient trees to almost disappear in the landscape.
Perfectly connected to the natural settings and cultural traditions of China, the resort’s design creatively explores the program, the sculptural form, the materiality, the identity and the environmental response to reach an exceptional destination and a unique experience that can be found only in Huangyao.
Embraced by the winding water flows, in Chinese Feng Shui Huangyao is an ideal place for people to live. On a practical level, water flowing peacefully along a winding canal offers greater practicality for everyday life.
GroupGSA, therefore, used water as an essential element in its design and also referred to other local symbols, including the Southland-style architecture of the city, primitive simplicity, blue bricks and black tiles. Source and images Courtesy of GroupGSA.
