Borum Designs Cultural Exchange Center, Huangshan, China
Construction has begun on the Gaopeng International Law Cultural Exchange Center in Huangshan, China, designed by PLY Architecture (Professor of Architecture Craig Borum). The facility is composed of a series of meeting rooms, gallery, restaurant, and teahouse in addition to thirty-one guest rooms. The building configuration responds to the environmental sensitivity of the topography. Two courtyards are created as the building form is pinched in the middle by two hillsides that divide into two the shallower sloped areas of the site. The building itself rises, following the overall general slope of the hillside as it recedes from the access road. Together the slope and building geometry allow each guest room stunning views to the Yellow Mountains to the south.
The design team at PLY included Craig Borum, AIA (Principal in Charge), Dinghao Zhou, (MUP, ’12), Shuqi He (MUD, ’13), Maggie Shao, (SNRE, ’13) and Caileigh MacKellar.