
The Call Of The Sea Guides This Moody Beachfront Structure
2024 Best of Year Winner for Social Impact
The call of the sea guided the renovation of Reef, a 3,000-square-foot beachfront structure whose main purpose is to support the needs of visitors to a reef in Guantouling, a tourism zone in southwest China known for its mountains, beaches along the Gulf of Tonkin, and Buddhist temple. The Beihai, China, project by C&C Design Co. entailed transforming serviceable facilities into cinematic spaces, with glass dividers that can be lit ocean blue or sunset gold, colors found in nature. Additionally, there are lockers, men’s and women’s toilets and showers, a handwashing station with a faceted mirror that looms overhead like a stalactite, and a coffee bar, all ingeniously built into existing, eroded rock. Breathtaking views of the gulf and Pacific Ocean beyond command the most attention. The result instills visitors with the understanding that humanity is part of the natural world, reminding that we save ourselves when we protect it.


See Interior Design’s Best of Year Winners and Honorees
Explore must-see projects and innovative products that took home high honors.





PROJECT TEAM: PENG ZHENG; XIE ZEKUN; XIA SHENGYUE.
read more
Projects
Creativity Abounds In This Three-Story HQ For Neiman Marcus
Replete with 300 suspended butterflies and funky tech innovations, Gensler crafted the ideal remote-hybrid office for all Neiman Marcus employees.
Projects
Seattle Aquarium’s New Addition Speaks To Environmental Stewardship
Recyclable materials and organic design inspired by ecology define LMN Architects’s green design for Seattle Aquarium’s new Ocean Pavilion.