Shanghai-based Neri&Hu Design and Research Office conceived this 4,200-square-metre, 20-room boutique hotel, restaurant and cultural-event space in the Hanjiang District of Yangzhou using the local vernacular of a courtyard residence. The architects connected a patchwork of new and existing structures via a dramatic grid of slightly-below-grade passageways that incorporate varying open-brickwork motifs and skylights. Ensconced behind a high perimeter wall, the compound enforces a sense of layered privacy for hotel guests, who must navigate the corridors that open onto various gardens and water features before arriving at their secluded suites. Furthest in is the Artist Guest Room.

Project: The Walled: Tsingpu Yangzhou Retreat Location: Yangzhou, China Firm: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office, China

Team: Rossana Hu and Lyndon Neri with Bin Zhu, Valentina Brunetti, Nicolas Fardet, Fong Huang, Callum Holgate, Jin Zhang, Leyue Chen, Sela Lim, Federico Saralvo, Sean Shen, Xin Liu, Yun Wang, Zhao Lei and Ziyi Cao