Chinese architecture studio Wutopia Lab is a deft hand at what makes the perfect bookstore. Its latest offering, Tianya Books, is the third such project this year, located in the popular Tianya Haijiao beach in Hainan, China’s southernmost island province. The bookstore’s design is finely tuned to its site and responds to the commonly romanticised view of Tianya Haijiao beach as ‘the end of the earth’, often found in Chinese folklore. Through Tianya Books, Wutopia Lab playfully creates a striking panoramic view of that ‘edge of the world' and the South China Sea.
The bookstore is orientated towards the sea and consists of two floors. The first floor includes a café and general reading areas, whilst the second floor encompasses a lecture hall and a children’s reading space. The upper level comprises a raised central platform that seems to float in the space, leaving visitors feeling ‘as if in the sea’, explains the team. The remaining space includes an exhibition hall, a circulation hub, retail, custom-made book displays and seats.
Following Wutopia Lab's signature aesthetic, which encompasses flowing, seamless spaces defined by bold statements and clean shapes, structural components such as columns are strategically hidden in the bookshelves.
Building a 400 sq m glass bookstore on sand proved to be a difficult task on the construction front. Parts of the foundation had to be replaced and boosted for extra support. Rather than build directly on the beach, the architects decided to build on a coconut grove close to it.
Meanwhile, a triangle-shaped section was carefully cut through the original floor plan in order to preserve a banyan tree and respect the existing vegetation, outlining the architects’ sensitive approach towards the surrounding nature and context.
Since Wutopia Lab was founded in 2012, it has completed 12 bookstores and two libraries. The studio continues to be one of the leading practices in contemporary bookstore design coming out of China. Wutopia Lab’s unconventional designs elegantly balance complexity in detail and a perceived simplicity.
INFORMATION
-
An architect’s own home offers a refined and leafy retreat from its East London surroundingsStudioshaw has completed a courtyard house in amongst a cluster of traditional terraced houses, harnessing the sun and plenty of greenery to bolster privacy and warmth
-
Finlandia Hall bistro blends culinary indulgence with reborn modernismFinlandia Hall bistro opens in Helsinki, adding a foodie dimension to the Finnish modernist architecture marvel by Alvar Aalto
-
Reimagining remembrance: Urn Studios introduces artistic urns to the UKBridging the gap between art and memory, Urn Studios offers contemporary, handcrafted funeral urns designed to be proudly displayed
-
Liu Jiakun wins 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize: explore the Chinese architect's workLiu Jiakun, 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, is celebrated for his 'deep coherence', quality and transcendent architecture
-
Ten contemporary homes that are pushing the boundaries of architectureA new book detailing 59 visually intriguing and technologically impressive contemporary houses shines a light on how architecture is evolving
-
Zaha Hadid Architects reveals plans for a futuristic project in Shaoxing, ChinaThe cultural and arts centre looks breathtakingly modern, but takes cues from the ancient history of Shaoxing
-
Take a deep dive into The Palm Springs School ahead of the region’s Modernism WeekNew book ‘The Palm Springs School: Desert Modernism 1934-1975’ is the ultimate guide to exploring the midcentury gems of California, during Palm Springs Modernism Week 2025 and beyond
-
Meet Minnette de Silva, the trailblazing Sri Lankan modernist architectSri Lankan architect Minnette de Silva is celebrated in a new book by author Anooradha Iyer Siddiq, who looks into the modernist's work at the intersection of ecology, heritage and craftsmanship
-
The Hengqin Culture and Art Complex is China’s newest cultural megastructureAtelier Apeiron’s Hengqin Culture and Art Complex strides across its waterside site on vast arches, bringing a host of facilities and public spaces to one of China’s most rapidly urbanising areas
-
The World Monuments Fund has announced its 2025 Watch – here are some of the endangered sites on the listEvery two years, the World Monuments Fund creates a list of 25 monuments of global significance deemed most in need of restoration. From a modernist icon in Angola to the cultural wreckage of Gaza, these are the heritage sites highlighted
-
Tour Xi'an's remarkable new 'human-centred' shopping district with designer Thomas HeatherwickXi'an district by Heatherwick Studio, a 115,000 sq m retail development in the Chinese city, opens this winter. Thomas Heatherwick talks us through its making and ambition
