Cheng Chung Design has used soft-hued materials for the interiors of Dongfengyun Hotel Mi'Le, which forms part of a huge art installation in rural China.

The hotel sits within Dongfengyun Art Town, a new village in Yunnan Province designed entirely by local artist Luo Xu. Set to span two square miles, it consists of a series of curving structures built from locally fired red bricks.

Operated by boutique hotel brand Mgallery, Dongfengyun Hotel Mi'Le includes 232 rooms, two restaurants, two bars, an outdoor swimming pool and meeting facilities.

The interiors created by Hong Kong-based Cheng Chung Design (CCD) celebrate the distinctive forms of the architecture, pairing natural materials with a muted colour palette and soft lighting.

"We did not adopt modernised or industrial design expressions," said the studio.

"Instead, the team drew inspiration from local cultural context and leveraged simplistic languages to integrate the space into nature."

CCD is overseeing all of the interior design at Dongfengyun and has already completed 50% Cloud Artists Lounge, a restaurant that doubles as an art gallery.

For the hotel, lighting and ambience were the key ambitions of the design. This begins in the entrance space, a dramatic bowl-shaped volume with a skylight above and a pool at its centre.

"With natural daylight pouring in, dynamic light and shadows freely move in the space," said CCD.

"The varying rhythms of light and shadows, coupled with surprising sensory experiences and elaborate details, create a sense of ritual to welcome guests."

Throughout the hotel, CCD has combined humble materials with luxury fittings and finishes, hoping to strike the right balance for guests.

This can be observed in the restaurants and lobby spaces, where materials such as rammed earth and clay tiles are paired with polished stone flooring and high-end furniture.

Bedrooms and suites are organised around a large courtyard, accessed by open-air corridors withs striking arched windows.

Inside, these rooms are dotted with locally sourced ceramics and other objects.

"Every detail retains the trace of local craftsmanship and secretly tells its own story," said CCD.

"With warm ambience and original simplicity fusing into the space, the design fully embodies the hotel's aesthetic philosophy, 'art dialogues with everything, inspiration portrays life'."

The photography is by Wang Ting.

Project credits:

Client: Yunnan Urban & Rural Construction Investment
Architectural design: Luo Xu
Landscape design: Yunnan Zilian Landscaping & Greening Engineering
Interior design: Cheng Chung Design
Lighting design: Cheng Chung Design
Art consulting: WOWU Art Consultancy

Dezeen is on WeChat!

Click here to read the Chinese version of this article on Dezeen's official WeChat account, where we publish daily architecture and design news and projects in Simplified Chinese.