'Retreat and recharge' in Yanbai Villa on a secluded Beijing shoreline
Yanbai Villa wraps guests in quiet luxury, opening its doors on a secluded Beijing shoreline
Beijing’s residents have long decamped to the cooler temperatures of nearby lakes and mountains whenever things got a little heated, literally and otherwise, in the capital. And now, with the opening of the 67-room Yanbai Villa – a portmanteau of the Chinese words for wild goose and pine tree – there’s one more excuse to pack for an overnighter.
Yanbai Villa: a haven of serenity a stone's throw from Beijing
Located in picturesque Huairou – a bucolic district north-east of the city that’s snuggled against a landscape of tree-cloaked hills and the mirror-flat Lake Yanqi – the low-slung 67-room resort sits in the midst of a leafy 30,000 sq m estate that stretches out along the shoreline of Yanqi Island.
The striking architecture is the work of Wang Shu, the Pritzker Prize laureate laying out an elongated sequence of elegantly modern stone-clad buildings capped with glazed tiles, classic Chinese pavilions and internal ponds, with the entire footprint and mood inspired by the Song Dynasty artist, Liu Songnian’s Landscapes of the Four Seasons.
Similarly, the interiors are inspired by another Song masterpiece, A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains by Wang Ximeng, which Wimberly Interiors has deftly channelled into mesmerising mosaic walls and a mood board rendered in Wang’s intense shades of blue, green and ochre.
This thoroughly modern rendition of the past streams its way through the entire resort. Lofty ceilings are rendered with interlocking timber ribs that echo the complex roof supports of the palaces in the Forbidden Palace. The patterns of finely woven bamboo window screens are repeated in rugs, balcony railings and armoires, whilst the mountain scapes of Wang Ximeng’s celebrated painting pop up as decorative features as translucent sculptures and oversized paperweights.
The guest rooms, in particular, feature a sophisticated mix of granite, customised furniture, and brushed timber, their potential hardness softened by the dramatic views – through oversized bay windows and floor-to-ceiling windows – of hills, sky and water beyond.
‘We took a lot of effort to create a natural palette to balance the architecture,’ says Wimberley Interiors’ lead designer, Deepu Mahboobani. ‘Particularly in the guest rooms, we wanted an element of softness that would encourage guests to retreat and recharge.’
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Not that guests have to try all that hard to decompress. If the cantilevered rooftop Jacuzzi with its literal front-row views of the mountains don’t please, perhaps cherry-picking one’s way through the hotel’s restaurants – Chaosan cuisine and fine French dining are on offer – followed by a post-prandial cocktail in the whisky bar just might do the trick.
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
Maude’s Brâncuși-inspired sex toys go on display in a new Paris exhibition
Maude’s design-led vibrators are now on display at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, as part of ‘Private Lives: From the Bedroom to Social Media’. Brand founder Éva Goicochea talks to Wallpaper* about partnering with the museum and opening up cultural conversations around sex
By India Birgitta Jarvis Published
-
‘I was captivated by the idea of merging two iconic brands’: Nigo on his collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which features a 1990s-inspired riff on the G-Wagon
Unveiled at Moncler’s ‘The City of Genius’ event in Shanghai this past weekend, Japanese fashion designer Nigo unpacks his three-way collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which includes a play on the G-Class alongside a fashion collection in his eclectic style
By Jack Moss Published
-
Cathay Pacific’s new business class Aria Suites take flight
Cathay Pacific raises the bar for business-class travel with the launch of the much-anticipated Aria Suites
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Inside Palazzo Versace Macau, a lavish, mosaic-rich hotel
Palazzo Versace Macau, the brand’s first hotel in Asia, continues to preserve Donatella Versace’s swanky hospitality vision
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
The Karl Lagerfeld Macau hotel oozes opulence conceived by the late designer
The Karl Lagerfeld Macau hotel is a five-star extravaganza at the Grand Lisboa Palace Resort Macau, China, designed by the late fashion mogul and set to open in July 2023
By Mary Cleary Published
-
West Kowloon wonders to discover now
Cultural and culinary adventures, extraordinary spaces and outstanding experiences in West Kowloon, Hong Kong
By Simon Mills Last updated
-
David Chipperfield Architects and Aim Architecture design ceramic-inspired hotel in China’s porcelain capital
David Chipperfield Architects and Aim Architecture unite for the Taoxichuan Hotel project in Jingdezhen
By Hannah Silver Last updated
-
Ramshackle farmhouse in China's Hubei province gets a slick makeover
The reimagined farmhouse is now a contemporary bolthole
By Lauren Ho Last updated
-
Beast x Gubi House — Shanghai, China
By Cat Nelson Last updated
-
Littlenap — Hangzhou, China
By Daven Wu Last updated
-
Théatre — Beijing, China
By Daven Wu Last updated