Mix Architecture embeds Qiu Hu Station into Wuxiang Mountain landscape

Located within Wuxiang Mountain National Forest Park in Nanjing’s Lishui District, Wuxiang Mountain Qiu Hu Station by Mix Architecture reimagines a former forestry office as a contemporary visitor node immersed within the surrounding mountain landscape. Framed by towering metasequoia trees on one side and dense bamboo forests on the other, the project combines tourist services, management functions, and public rest spaces within a layered architectural composition that dissolves into nature.

Rather than creating a singular monumental object, the design approaches architecture as part of the terrain itself. Roofs, terraces, skylights, and pathways unfold gradually across the site, allowing the building to merge visually with the surrounding topography and vegetation.

The project began with the idea of the traditional courtyard, reinterpreted through a contemporary spatial strategy adapted to the mountainous site. The program is divided into two L shaped volumes: one housing internal office functions, the other dedicated to visitor services and public spaces.

These two sections are unified through interlocking sloped roofs that twist toward one another and extend into deep overhanging eaves above the central courtyard. The resulting roofscape recalls the layered silhouettes of distant mountain ranges, creating a spatial rhythm that echoes the surrounding forest landscape.

As the roofs fold and overlap, walls gradually disappear behind terraces and elevated platforms. Architecture becomes less defined by facade and enclosure, and more by layered surfaces, shadows, and framed views toward the natural environment.

Seen from the mountain road, the building appears as a continuation of the terrain rather than a conventional structure. Landscape platforms rise gradually from the ground while the floating roof planes extend horizontally into the forest canopy. The architecture intentionally minimizes its visual mass, allowing visitors to focus instead on the surrounding greenery and changing atmospheric conditions.

Skylights become critical spatial devices throughout the project. Flat skylights and trapezoidal roof openings draw natural light into public areas and circulation spaces, subtly guiding movement through the building even as exterior boundaries remain visually softened.

In more private spaces such as offices and dining rooms, lateral skylights provide controlled daylight while reducing glare and direct solar exposure. This careful manipulation of light allows the architecture to maintain a calm and immersive atmosphere throughout the day.

The building combines traditional architectural references with pragmatic contemporary construction methods. A conventional concrete frame structure forms the primary body of the project, while the generous cavity between roof and ceiling absorbs structural tolerances, technical systems, and construction irregularities.

Material selection focuses on texture, shadow, and atmosphere rather than precision detailing alone. Blue roof tiles and rough stone surfaces are layered across the terraces and roofscape, creating a tactile architectural skin that resonates with the mountain environment. Highly detailed glass edges and window frames are concealed within shadow lines, allowing the textured surfaces to remain visually dominant.

The resulting architecture balances simplicity and complexity through material accumulation and spatial layering, producing a building that feels simultaneously traditional and contemporary.

Upon completion, Wuxiang Mountain Qiu Hu Station functions less as an isolated visitor center and more as an extension of the forest itself. Deep eaves and terraces frame selective views outward, directing attention toward bamboo groves, distant hills, and filtered daylight rather than nearby roads or infrastructure.

The project ultimately proposes a quieter architectural language rooted in atmosphere, landscape, and spatial continuity. Through layered roofs, filtered light, and carefully restrained materiality, Mix Architecture creates a mountain station where architecture and nature become inseparable experiences.

Project Credit

Project Name: Wuxiang Mountain Qiu Hu Station
Location: Wuxiang Mountain National Forest Park，Lishui District，Nanjing City，Jiangsu Provience, China
Architects: Mix Architecture
Completion Year: June 2021
Area: 977 ㎡
Photo: Xiaobin Lv