Dong Gong designs an original hotel complex in Jingdezhen, China, by reconstructing and expanding a former industrial building

Located in Jingdezhen, a city in China’s Jiangxi province historically renowned for its porcelain production, architect Dong Gong and his studio, Vector Architects, have designed the Jingyang Camphor Court Hotel with an interior cloister as the central element of the complex. The project began with several industrial relics: a long and narrow industrial building, various machine rooms, a dormitory, and a dilapidated pavilion. Around and within these structures, camphor trees—capable of reaching heights of 20 meters—had grown to significant sizes. Their preservation became one of the project’s primary objectives, exemplifying adaptive reuse as a crucial sustainable architectural practice.  

The hotel’s design and organization differ from most, as the client requested that more than half of the spaces be open to the public. This criterion was considered in the design of both existing and new spaces. The hotel offers an urban public space accompanied by a hospitality experience oriented toward culture and its visitors. 

The central part of the Jingyang Camphor Court consists of a wooden cloister that surrounds the lush camphor trees, establishing a unique atmosphere at the core of the hotel complex. All new hotel spaces—porches, rooms, conference halls, and the restaurant—are arranged around and connected to this central nucleus. Due to site limitations, no other large public spaces could be created apart from the cloister.  

The distances between the walls of the different spaces are very narrow, similar to the limited width between the exterior walls of the original buildings. By placing all buildings very close to each other, an intimate and welcoming atmosphere is created, allowing guests to discover the various material tones arranged along the corridors, as if wandering through a labyrinth. 

The hotel’s western area features a new courtyard-type building, where the facades of the three buildings advance and retreat to form small plazas in front of them. From the outside, the subtle setback of these buildings from the street attracts and surprises visitors. 

The hotel’s entrance is located on the east side of the site and has a deliberately low and discreet profile, in harmony with the presence of trees and canopies. The modest height, proportionate to human scale, creates an intimate and welcoming atmosphere upon arrival. 

The hotel rooms occupy the former dormitory space, north of the central courtyard. Its walls were preserved, while a new structure penetrates and protrudes from the existing space. Each hotel room has a balcony overlooking the interior courtyard and the corridors connecting the buildings. 

The new restaurant is situated within the structure of the old factory, in the southern part of the site. Vector Architects preserved the original side walls of this industrial relic and added thermal and acoustic insulation. In addition to general structural reinforcements, a new metal roof structure was added to enhance the building’s safety. The ceiling height was also increased, and new skylights were introduced, creating a more pleasant and contemporary spatial atmosphere for guests while paying homage to the building’s industrial past.  

The bricks of the original structures had a red and orange hue. To honor this palette, the new buildings utilize warm-colored concrete and a thin layer of tiles with a similar gradient.

The external walls of both old and new volumes are a mix of kiln and old clay bricks. Between the old and new bricks, warm-colored concrete is cast in place to create a harmonious transition between the preserved elements and those newly added. Their materiality, color, and texture are closely related to the history of porcelain production in Jingdezhen.  

Los muros exteriores de los edificios nuevos y antiguos son una mezcla de ladrillos actuales y ladrillos de arcilla vieja. Entre ambos se ha vertido hormigón de color cálido para crear una transición armoniosa entre los elementos conservados y los añadidos. Su materialidad, color y textura están estrechamente relacionados con la historia de la producción de porcelana en Jingdezhen.

Project: Jingyang Camphor Court Hotel.

Location: Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China.
Completion: 2024.
Architecture, Interior Design and Landscape: Vector Architects.
Principal Architect:: Dong Gong.
Project Architects: Zhang Han.
Site Architects: Liu Yaduo, Xue Zhengnan
Construction Management: Zhao Liangliang, Li Jinteng
Project Team: Guo Tianshu, Yan Xu, Gou Fanlin, Liu Yaduo, Li Jinteng, Ma Xiaokai, Mao Bo, Weng Qicheng , Liu Shida, Andre Chedid, Ai Xin, Li Mofei, Sun Yingyi, Gao Yudi, Guan Shipeng, Tao Wei, Li Jiahui.
Ceramics Art Avenue：Zhang Jie.
EPC Lead: An-design Architects. 

Project Architect: Hu Jianxin, Zhang Bingbing
.
Architects: Wu Wenxue, Wang Zhi, Wang Yongping, Zhong Kai
.
Structural Design: Zhang Jueyang, Liu Yahui, Bi Xin
MEP
MEP Design: Yang Yanan, Wang Juan, Guo Chunshuang, Feng Zhanwei, Shi Xiaofeng, Li Hui

Landscape Design: Li Siyu, Yu Mingyu, Yang Xu.
Façade Consultant: An-design Architects, LongBang Construction Co., Ltd.
Lighting Consultant: X Studio, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University.
Timber Structure Consultant: IStructure & CROWNHOMES.
Smart Building Consultant: BOE.
Signage Design: Beijing SEED Cultural Media Co., Ltd.
Construction: Shanghai Greenland Construction (Group) Co. Ltd., Suzhou Gold Mantis Construction Decoration Co. Ltd., Shanghai Fair Face Concrete Technology & Development Co. Ltd.
Structural System: Estructura Frame, Estructura de acero, Estructura de madera.
Materials: Hormigón visto coloreado, Vidrio, Ladrillo de terracota, Acero inoxidable, Madera laminada
Built area: 8.290 m2 (en superficie 6.347 m2/ subterráneo 1.943 m2)
Footprint: 2.400 m2.
Site area：6.130 m2.
Photography: Pianfang Studio. Chen Hao-Vector Architects. Zheng Yuning-Vector Architects. Xu Jun-Vector Architects.

Dong Gong

Born in 1972, Dong Gong earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Architecture from Tsinghua University, followed by a Master’s in Architecture from the University of Illinois. He worked at Solomon Cordwell Buenz & Associates in Chicago, and later at Richard Meier & Partners and Steven Holl Architects in New York.

In 2008, Dong Gong founded Vector Architects. In 2019, he was elected a Foreign Member of the French Academy of Architecture. He has taught design studios at Tsinghua University and the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and served as Plym Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Visiting Professor at the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy.

Dong Gong and Vector Architects have participated in major international exhibitions, including the first-ever Chinese architecture exhibition at MoMA in New York and the Venice Architecture Biennale 2018 (FREESPACE). Their work has received numerous awards such as the ARCASIA Gold Medal (2022), RIBA International Awards for Excellence(2021), inclusion in Domus 100+ Best Architecture Firms (2019), Swiss Architectural Award nomination (2018), Archmarathon Awards Overall Winner (2016), and Design Vanguard by Architectural Record (2014).

In 2019, AV Monographs published a dedicated volume titled Cosmopolitan Vernacular (No. 220). Vector’s work has also appeared in Casabella, Arquitectura Viva, The New York Times, A+U, Detail, The Architectural Review, L’Architecture d’Aujourd’hui, Lotus, Domus, and many others.

Dong Gong has lectured and served as a critic at institutions including Tsinghua University (China), the University of Hong Kong, the Polytechnic University of Madrid (Spain), the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (USA), ETH Zurich (Switzerland), Société Française des Architectes (France), the Polytechnic University of Turin (Italy), and Casabella Formazione (Italy).

His studio has gained international recognition through projects such as Seashore Library, Seashore Chapel, Yangshuo Sugarhouse, Captain’s House Renovation, Pingshan Art Museum, Haibing Center at Nankai University, Jingyang Camphor Court, and People’s Elementary School.

Vector Architects

At Vector Architects, architectural work is guided by a belief in the enduring, tranquil power embodied by architecture itself. Architecture can transcend time, withstand uncertainty, and respond to social, political and environmental realities. But ultimately, it must also reconnect with its spiritual purpose—to comfort the body and nourish the soul.

“Architecture is a way to engage physically, mentally, and emotionally with the world we live in. This, in our view, is its highest responsibility.”

Since its founding in 2008, Vector Architects has focused on site, light, and design. Architecture is rooted in place, and place gives architecture its reality. Every site, whether natural or urban, contains latent energies—from the landscape, its inhabitants, and their behaviors. The task of architecture is to orchestrate these forces through precise spatial strategies that shape perception and lifestyles.

“Like dropping a stone into still water, creating ripples—architecture is not a self-contained object, but a connector that reveals meaning.”

Natural light is essential. As it hits surfaces and defines spatial boundaries, it also dissolves them, setting a mood that shifts with the weather and seasons. Light evokes an intangible sense of rhythm and presence. In architecture, it is both a phenomenon we see and an aura we inhabit.

Creation is the foundation of architecture. The design process is a set of operations and manipulations of materials. The complexities of building, the skill of the hands, and physical labor all leave their imprint.

In China’s construction industry, delays, disorder, and flaws are common—but Vector sees these as opportunities. For each project, they assign a site architect to be involved in every phase: from researching and prototyping materials, to joint detailing and on-site supervision, ensuring that the initial design intent is fully realized.

“This long process of collaboration allows us to learn from local builders and rethink design limitations—reducing the gap between drawings and construction.”

Source: Vector Architects.

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Project by Dong Gong