January 9, 2019

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.

Baisheng Garden of Excellence Club by Daosheng Design. Photography by Peng Yu Xian.

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

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