Located on the western shore of Taihu Lake, Shangsi’an Village is crossed by the Si’antang Creek. A historic stone bridge connects the two sides of the creek, and nearby lies an important public space defined by evergreen trees and several existing pavilions.
Six buildings scattered throughout the village were selected by the client to be transformed into a distributed countryside hotel. Among them is a traditionally styled exhibition hall near the bridge. Given its prominent location, we reimagined this structure as a shared living space for the entire hotel—a teahouse and library open to both guests and local residents. The remaining buildings—including a late Qing Dynasty timber house, a warehouse, and three two-story structures with tiled façades—have been converted into guest accommodations.
Rather than introducing new walls, the buildings remain integrated with the village’s existing paths and courtyards, with only subtle interventions in the paving. This allows villagers to continue moving through the site as part of their daily routines. Each building was approached according to its specific condition: structurally unstable buildings were carefully rebuilt after selective demolition; the tiled buildings were reprogrammed and better connected to the surrounding landscape; and the timber house was gently reinforced.
In front of the small exhibition hall, the former granite steps—once suggestive of an urban character—have been replaced with a grassy slope that blends more naturally into the environment. A lightweight pavilion has also been introduced to create an outdoor gathering space where villagers and guests can sit, talk, and enjoy the atmosphere by the creek.
