- Interior
Pure simplicity, a perfect balance of materials and an aura of pure tranquillity are Signyan Design's signature. With Y Hotel enveloped in light colours, soft materials and textures, you will find yourself in an oasis of calm.
Founded by Xie Ke, a graduate of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, Chinese studio Signyan Design has been designing spaces for more than twenty years. This renowned interior design studio found its own path and brought out Ke's own vision and individuality from a passion for design and architecture. The overall experience is always at the heart of his projects, which stem from a connection between interior and exterior. His simplicity ensures that the colours and textures of the chosen materials invariably come to the fore. Sticking to simple and natural styles, he is good at enabling the narrativity of spaces through the use of simple materials. He fully respects the environment and seeks to combine traditional technology with contemporary aesthetics to develop oriental cultural aesthetic spaces around the world. In the field of hotel design, his representative works include Pure House, Sunyata Meili Hotel, Sunyata-Chongqing Hotel, Sisan-Hupao 1934 Hotel and Sisan-Shuanglang Hotel. We spoke to the inspirer about his love for simple materials, 'real life' and about his most recent design called Y Hotel.
Project Y Hotel & Kitchen is located in the community of Mount Sanya. The beige architecture consists of a quiet, private hotel and an open restaurant. Being landlocked, the project is surrounded by mountains and adjacent to neighbouring villas and residences. The architecture, surrounded by mountains rather than seas, represents an introverted lifestyle from a previous extroverted lifestyle. The mountains are vague in the distance, while the architecture is quietly hidden in the community as part of the mountains. Next, the entire recreation space features warm and soft tones. The space looks pragmatic and poetic because of the huge empty spaces. Different coloured blocks shape the whole space. Different textures are hidden in the handmade details, which match the slow and free-growing plants and make visitors feel calm by consciously meditating.
Design is an expression of emotions and the result of design reflects people's understanding of art and life.
The hotel consists of eight rooms ranging from 80m2 to 100m2 equipped with an independent courtyard and patio with natural light, each room has different layout and structure. The open, spacious glass interface illuminates and warms all rooms. Moreover, the horizontal French window can guarantee full views of picturesque landscapes. The basement level releases more meditation spaces, making it a peaceful place. Many things, such as light, order, emotion and free breathing, are included in the empty spaces. A void no less than 6 metres high has been created between the backyard and the nearby residence. In this way, prying between the nearby residence and the architecture is completely avoided and the right distance with the sunlight can be maintained. Some large gardens have been made to prevent people from imagining themselves in an underground world. Sunlight is "cast" from the courtyard and wind can move freely here. In the hidden architecture, visitors can feel certain perceptions rather than anything specific. This allows them to wander around the space at will, experience quiet forces and completely relax in the interesting flow of traffic.
'It was an interesting experience when we first arrived at the site. The immediate area was filled with two-storey Tuscan-style villas and our client had asked us to create a small hotel between them. Our first impression was that it would look out of place and we also saw potential problems with sightlines between the existing buildings. Moreover, we noticed that Easterners' preferences for sunbathing were not as prominent as those of Westerners. Therefore, we decided to focus on creating a sense of resort living in the hotel, mainly by using the sheltered areas under the eaves to provide privacy and avoid direct sightlines with the surrounding community,’ we hear. In this way, this approach not only addressed privacy issues, but also introduced a small roof garden that made a positive contribution to the neighbouring environment. This became a task in which Signyan Design was more than successful. 
Want to read more about this impressive hotel? You can read about it in the October 2023 edition of Imagicasa Magazine.
Interior design by Signyan Design
Photography by Jonathan Leijonhufvud Architectural Photography