Yanqi Lake Kempinski Hotel, aiming to become one of Beijing’s most iconic buildings, was designed by Chief Designer Zhang Hai Ao and his team from Shanghai Huadu Architect Design Company.
Zhang worked with his team of 60 designers from across the globe, including the UK, Italy, Spain, the US, Holland and the Philippines, who spent 60 days developing the building design. The compound is set on 513,202 square feet. grounds and the building is 318 feet high with 21 floors. The top of the building reflects the color of the sky, the middle of the building reflects the Yanshan Mountain, and the bottom of the building reflects the lake.
The exterior glass surface, which is covered by over 10,000 pieces of glass panels, spans 194,558 square feet.
Construction of Yanqi Lake Kempinski Hotel Beijing took 24 months with help from over 9,300 construction workers. The building was constructed with reinforced concrete and all-glass exterior in order to give the best blend between the building and the natural environment.
A super stable structure, Zhang shared that the building can even withstand up to a level 8 earthquake.
The building is equipped with an indoor air quality monitoring system to ensure a healthy and comfortable indoor environment. Air quality in the underground garage is monitored by a CO concentration monitoring system and is equipped with an automatic start-stop fan.
The system also monitors the air quality and air ratio in the public areas with a goal to improve indoor air quality and reduce energy consumption.
The centerpiece of the hotel lobby is a custom-designed art feature. Set around the stunning staircase, the feature is composed of thousands of round glass spectrums hanging from the ceiling to the ground on stainless steel cables.
Its design abstractly reflects the exterior outline of the mountainous landscape beyond Yanqi Lake.
The property’s Presidential Suite is understated with a contemporary flair and furniture. Jackson Pollock-style artworks adorn the walls of the suite, while large-scale abstract floral- embossed carpet is inlaid with French walnut wood floors.
The guestroom design is minimal and contemporary yet relaxed. Hints of soft blues conjure a peaceful ambiance, with wallpapered panels softening the overall space while printed fabric selections for accent pillows suggest the hotel’s resort location. Honey golden wood in the flooring brightens up the space while providing a sense of warmth for the guest.
Floor two connects to the ballroom and meeting rooms. The atrium space, with the connecting staircase to floor two of the hotel, is accented by a large-scale three-dimensional geometric feature wall with integrated lighting. Set within a stone frame the arrangement is an abstract set of smaller geometric three-dimensional frames of various sizes that run the height of the 5 four-storey space. Suspended within the void of the atrium is a large-scale, Ruth Asawa-inspired wire-sculpted lighting feature.
Yanqi Lake Kempinski, www.kempinski.com