designboom_positioned on a sloping site on the hills of tengchong in china, STUDIO QI has completed the design of ‘annso hill hotel‘. located within the small streets of the ancient city, the project was faced with the challenge of a very narrow site of just 13 meters wide and a height difference of 16 meters from top to bottom. with these tricky constraints, the architects decided to work with the gradient to form a zig-zagged shaped ‘ladder’, that subtly announces the new intervention while also inviting guests into the hotel.

as opposed to building a tall façade at the end of the street, STUDIO QI instead chose to build the entrance of the hotel back into the sloped terrain of the site. in this way, the new architecture appears to be nestled into the gradient of the landscape. and within the traditional chinese tiles of the sloped roof, a ‘z’ shape articulates the opening, almost like a crack of lightening through the form. in addition to forming a subtle approach, this aspect of the design also seeks to represent the spiritual process of going uphill. as guests ascend higher, they leave the city below and enter into the bright spaces of the hotel.