As one of the four greatest Buddhism mountains in China, Mount. E’mei has been rated as the World Heritage of both nature and culture by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) since 1996. Qiliping is located at Hongya, Meishan, Sichuan. Qiliping is a part of Mount. E’mei. With about 1,300 meters of elevation, and only 26 kilometers from Golden Peak, the top of Mount. E’mei famous for the fabulous view it has, Qiliping is commonly known as a platform for viewing Golden Peak from distance.
Having 300 square kilometers of forests in the surrounding mountains, 90% of the area of Qiliping is covered with trees. The average temperature in Qiliping during the summer is 24℃, which is about 5 to 8℃ lower compared to the urban area. More interestingly, an average of about 18,000 negative oxygen ions exist in per cube centimeters of air in Qiliping, which is 400 times more ample than the urban area.
The tourism project “Zhoushandao” takes up 43.5 acres of land with 76,000 square meters of building area consisted of a main hotel building, 17 apartments, ridge clubhouse, and some hilltop villas. The hotel, Holiday Inn Express E’mei Qiliping, is the symbolic architecture of the project. As the biggest and the most wide-spread hotel management group in the world, InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG), the introduction of its subsidiary, Holiday Inn Express, to Qiliping successfully fulfils the shortage of high-quality and international hotels of the region.
Holiday Inn Express E’mei Qiliping is located at the center of Qiliping. To the south of the building is main entrance connecting to the main road of project Zhoushandao. The road connects to E’hong Road in the east, and its west leads up to the hilltop of the project. To the north of the hotel is a singing creek and a small hill with bamboos and trees that can reach the fourth floor of the building.
The main building of the hotel is of a cubic structure with five floors aboveground and 2 floors underground. The architecture is of 19.80 meters in heights, 81.75 meters length, and 22.40 meters in depth. Its building area is about 9738.92 square meters with 162 guest rooms.
Most parts of the façade of the architecture is formed by the disposition of jagged white belts. Cut by a broad rain shed of wood-like material, the lower part of the building is two-floor-high void space that is made into public space.
What inspired the architect to choose white as the main color of the façade is the Davidia Involucrata flowers, as a few of them can be seen at the project site. As a special plant that exists in Mount. E’mei, Davidia Involucrata is one of the Chinese National First-class Protected Plants. Every year during April and May, the trees blossom with flowers that have two big white petals that flies like pigeons with a breeze. Therefore, Davidia Involucrata is also known as the “Chinese Pigeon Trees.”
The most distinct part of the architecture, the disposition of jagged façade, forms the balconies that allow each guest room to have a space that gets into nature. Other benefits of the disposition are that it allows each guest room to be free from the interference of rooms nearby, and more importantly forms the major symbolic appearance of the architecture.
Following the shape of the architecture, guest rooms are located along the north and south sides of the building.
Southside Guest Rooms:
The southside guest rooms are in a position that can directly look upon Golden Peak. They also show a design thinking of “Origin of Natural”. Looking out of the windows from southside guest rooms, a green wild scene would be seen. When it is sunny, guests can even see the gigantic gold buddha sitting and shining with the sun.
How delightful a view is when it is a combination of both nature and culture! This creates such a nice place to sit down and meditate. Placing oneself in the middle of a mountain with the visible influence of Buddhism, one can set its mind free into thinking about the origin of oneself, of nature, and of life.
Northside Guest Rooms:
Different from the distant view that can be seen at the southside guest rooms, the northside guest rooms are closer to nature. Opening the balcony door, one can hear the creek singing right underneath him. One can even seem to reach his hands onto the bamboos on the balcony. Sitting down at the balcony and looking up, one can see a line of the bright blue sky between the bamboos and the architecture. Looking down from the balcony, the clear creek slowly drips along. Locating at this spot, the architecture seems to become an organic that is nourished by water.
作为中国四大佛教名山之一,峨眉山早在1996年即被联合国教科文组织评为世界文化与自然双遗产。七里坪位于四川省眉山市洪雅县,地处峨眉山中山段,海拔1300米左右,属于峨眉山景区的一部分,距金顶26公里。金顶观佛光是峨眉山观光的至尊景观,峨眉七里坪正是一处远眺金顶的观景平台。
七里坪森林覆盖率高达90%,周边峨眉山、瓦屋山共有300多平方公里森林。夏季平均温度摄氏24度,低于城区5~8度。空气中的负氧离子含量达18000个/cm3,相当于城市的400倍。
旅游度假项目“洲山道”总占地250.76亩,建筑面积约76000平方米,由一栋酒店主楼、17栋公寓附楼、山脊会所、山顶别墅等组成。峨眉七里坪智选假日酒店就是洲山道项目的门面建筑。
洲际酒店集团(IHG)作为目前全球最大及网络分布最广的专业酒店管理集团,将旗下的酒店品牌智选假日酒店落子于七里坪,补强了区域欠缺高品质、国际化酒店的短板。
峨眉七里坪智选假日酒店位居峨眉山七里坪核心位置,毗邻主要交通干道峨洪路。酒店南侧主入口临洲山道主进山路,此路东接峨洪路,西向于密林中蜿蜒向上直到山头组团。酒店北侧紧贴的小山岗上密密的翠竹森林已高达4层,山岗脚下是自山谷中一路潺潺而下的一条小溪。
酒店主体为一栋矩形立方体建筑,地面5层,地下(半地下)2层,建筑高度19.80米,长度81.75米,总进深22.40米。建筑面积9738.92平方米,客房162间。
建筑整体形象为带错位锯齿立面的白色建筑,下部由宽大的木材质感雨篷分割出局部挑空2层的公共空间。
选择优雅的白色作为建筑立面主色,源自设计师脑海中飞舞的珙桐花。因为项目用地内的山岭上,有数株珍贵的珙桐树。珙桐又叫“中国鸽子树”,国家一级重点保护植物,峨眉山特有植物之一。每年四、五月间繁花盛开,两片白色花瓣大如手掌,迎风飘荡如群群白鸽振翅飞翔。
锯齿形的阳台,为每间客房形成凸入自然风光的空间,这是度假酒店最有特色的部位。错位层叠的造型,规避相邻客房间干扰,更形成了建筑独特的标志性的主体形象。
建筑沿形体长向,在南北两侧布置客房。
南侧客房:
占据可仰观峨眉山金顶的方位,南侧客房传达出关于“源生态”的设计思考。从南侧客房望出去,是一派深远的青山,寥廓的自然景观视野。天气睛好时,金顶巨大的十方普贤像在阳光下光耀四方,影映出普渡众生的佛教文化核心理念。
自然景观与人文景观双向结合。如画美景,最利于人在其间静养与冥想。仙山灵蕴,佛教文化的加持,更可将思绪导向“我是谁?我要向哪里去?”一类关于“自然之源”、“生命之源”的思考。
北侧客房:
与南侧客房景观的深远相反,北侧客房极度贴近自然。推开观景阳台的大玻璃门,楼脚溪涧的轰鸣即刻入耳,面前是仿佛触手可及的高杆翠竹,头顶是明亮的一线青天。凭栏垂直俯瞰,正下方清澈的溪水湍流而过。坐落于此,建筑成为享受着源源不断的活水滋润的有机体。