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Location: Emeishan, China

Architect: Studio J. Bridgland

Interior Designer: Studio J. Bridgland

Hotel Group: ZOLAND

Photography: Jonathan Leijonhufvud

Studio J. Bridgland approaches ZOLAND as an exercise in architectural quietude, where built form yields to the landscape of Mount Emei. The project is conceived as a dispersed, village-like composition that responds carefully to natural topography and existing structures. Architecture and interiors are developed as a unified system, creating sequences of courtyards, framed views, and moments of pause that support rest and renewal.

The practice prioritises regeneration over erasure, retaining, adapting, and extending existing buildings while embedding new interventions within the terrain. These additions follow natural contours to minimise visual impact and reinforce spatial continuity. Circulation traces existing lines of movement, allowing the site to unfold gradually and intuitively.

A restrained and tactile material palette underpins the design. Materials are selected to weather and deepen over time, ensuring the architecture remains visually and atmospherically subordinate to its surroundings. Courtyards play a central role as mediating spaces between interior and exterior, drawing light, air, and landscape into the experience of the architecture.

Framing is a defining strategy within the project. Buildings are carefully positioned to compose views of the forest and mountain, transforming everyday movement into a sequence of controlled landscape moments. This approach shifts the perception of the project away from a singular object towards a series of spatial conditions that evolve with movement, light, and topography.

Specialist craftsmanship is integral to the outcome, including hand-finished textured concrete, precise stone masonry using locally sourced materials, bespoke timber carpentry, and reinterpreted traditional grey clay tile roofing.