Capsule Hostel and Bookstore in Qinglongwu, China designed by Atelier tao+c has been named as the World Interior of the Year for 2021 at INSIDE festival, a sister festival of WAF, in which both events took place from 1 to 3 December, 2021.

The project has beaten over 100 finalists across eleven categories to win the final accolade. 

Judges were impressed with the project’s "sensitive and inventive remodelling of a modest traditional building in a remote setting." 



They added that "A cross between a beehive, a climbing frame and a pagoda, this building is exceptionally skilful and entertaining. A beautiful hybrid idea executed with poetry, sophistication, and warmth."

Located in the forests of Tonglu in Zhejiang province, Qinglongwu, the project transforms a 232 square meters old house by inserting a capsule hostel that can accommodate 20 people, a community bookstore and library into the 7.2 metre high two-stories space.

Exploring the idea of ‘buildings inside a building’, the biggest challenge to the architects was ensuring the privacy of the hostel accommodation while providing openness and continuity to the public areas within such a compact space.

The ground floor has been opened up for library and public spaces by removing the partition walls and original floors, and two independent "floating" structures are placed above the library. These structures are each equipped with 10 capsule rooms and one bathroom. 

The architects intentionally divided the floating mass to a height that can only enable people to sit or to lie low, and staggered the floor slabs to create an unconventional three-floor space with interesting perspectives.

The renovation of the exterior reflects the reorganisation of the interior spaces, and the restrained openings on the exterior wall, maintain the original simplicity of the vertical capsule rooms. Rich natural light floods the interior through the introduction of a transparent structure at the east end of the building. 

The structure replaced an entire gable wall to provide sweeping views of the surrounding natural landscape and was constructed from wooden frames and corrugated polycarbonate panels. At twilight, the whole building is illuminated by warm indoor light to become a light house.

The INSIDE World Interior of the Year award was judged by INSIDE festival’s 2021 super-jury, composed of Nigel Coates, Creative Director of Nigel Coates Studio, Oliver Salway, Founding Director of Softroom, Johnny Chiu, Founder of J.C.Architecture, Yael Reisner, Director of Yael Reisner Studio, and Manuelle Gautrand, Founding Partner of Manuelle Gautrand Architecture.

World Architecture Community is official Media Partner of WAF and INSIDE and WAC covered the latest news from both festivals on WAC's Portugal country page.

INSIDE World Festival of Interiors is co-located with the World Festival of Architecture and together they form the largest live celebration of contemporary architecture and design in the world. The festival will reconvene in 2022 in Lisbon for its 15th edition. 

In 2019, JCA Living Lab, a regenerated Japanese Colonial house in Taipei city, won the World Interior of the Year for 2019. In 2018, Yumin Art Nouveau Collection by Danish practice JAC Studios won the World Interior of the Year. 

All images © Su Sheng Liang

> via INSIDE