Baisheng Garden of Excellence Club by Daosheng Design: 2018 Best of Year Winner for Bar/Lounge

The design of the buzzy Baisheng Garden of Excellence Club, sited in a high-end residential development, draws heavily from its location, a bustling city along China’s Pearl River Delta. He YongMing, designer director for Daosheng Design, conceived an edgy interior that channels numerous regional influences: the rolling mountains as depicted in traditional Guangdong ink paintings, the gestural lines of Chinese cursive, and the exuberant choreography of the local Lingnan-style dragon dance. “In the posture of the dancers and in the texture of the landscape, there is a kind of flowing beauty, which we sought to capture here,” He says. Hence the project’s poetic nickname, the Flow of Ecstatic.

Enfolded in canted concrete panels, the 3,800-square-foot space recalls a rocky river gorge carved by the elements. Tonal floor slabs are also striated in a manner evocative of weather-worn earth. Unfurling near the ceiling is a ribbon of woven-bamboo matting that suggests the jagged curlicue of a pencil shaving.

Also notable is the modular and flexible approach to furniture. Supplementing sculptural stools are banquettes that carve the space into discrete seating zones. Asymmetrical marble-topped tables can be repositioned as needed. You’ll want to sit and stay awhile. “In this era of rapid development, we’re always in a hurry,” He notes. “This invites you to slow down and just enjoy life.” Cheers to that.

> See more Best of Year Project Winners from the December 2018 issue of Interior Design