The Snow Apartment / penda: Inspired by Nature

From the architect. The Snow Apartment by penda is located in Zhangjiakou, which is a famous skiing region 160km North of Beijing and offers a weekend-getaway for the client and his friends.

The design of the apartment is inspired by a melting snowfield in spring, when nature slowly revives from winter and offers a contrast of cold and warm, white and colored. This atmosphere was translated into architecture by hand-plastered, white shells, which cover walls and the ceiling and create a seamless space, which guides visitors naturally through the apartment. The curves of the interior responds in a very direct way to the outside landscape of mountains and valleys.

Introducing a warm and natural element into the apartment, the white shells are partially cutted by wooden boxes, which provide areas for relaxing, communicating and displaying artwork. The walls are lifted up 5cm and backlit which creates a clear differentiation between the white shells and the wooden fir-floor. The upper parts of the shells are partly cutted and back-lit by LEDs as well. Therfore the ceiling becomes a field of ambient lighting, forming an atmospherical and organisational element throughout the apartment.

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"The Snow Apartment / penda" 27 May 2014. ArchDaily. Accessed 29 May 2014.