Clouhaus Hotel By RooMoo Design Studio | Chongqing, China

Perched 1,200 meters above sea level on the northern slope of Jinfo Mountain, Clouhaus Hotel is a refined example of adaptive reuse, sustainable hospitality design, and mountain architecture. Designed by RooMoo Design Studio and completed in 2025, the 1,915 m² boutique hotel transforms a former resort sales office into a 24-room retreat that responds sensitively to its dramatic natural setting and local cultural context.

Surrounded by dense forests and steep terrain, the site offers expansive mountain views but presents challenges in accessibility and construction. Rather than imposing a new architectural language, the design team undertook extensive field research into local villages, materials, and craftsmanship, allowing the architecture to emerge from the mountain’s ecological and cultural fabric. The result is a hotel that seamlessly integrates architecture, landscape, and community, turning natural textures and human traces into a cohesive spatial narrative.

Architecture Rooted in Mountain Logic

The project retains the existing five-level concrete structural frame, minimizing environmental impact while preserving the site’s original footprint. This structure is reinterpreted through a local “frame-and-infill” construction logic, reorganizing both façade expression and interior circulation.

Eight vertical white structural columns emphasize the building’s relationship to the steep slope, creating a rhythmic dialogue with the terrain. Horizontally, locally sourced bamboo panels and dragon-scale stones visually anchor the building to the mountain. At the top level, the balcony extends the timber framework outward, forming a semi-open bamboo canopy that filters light and dissolves the boundary between interior and exterior spaces.

Arrival Experience and Landscape Integration

The entrance square, located beside a winding mountain road, is designed as a tactile threshold between the natural landscape and the hotel interior. Original site bricks, local gravel, and reclaimed stones are reused to form a central landscape feature, reinforcing the project’s commitment to material reuse and sustainability.

Recycled timber, carbonized to enhance durability and texture, is combined with concrete waste from the renovation to create partitions and visual screens. Drawing from traditional bamboo railing techniques, the bridge and courtyard fences are crafted using bamboo strips and green woven bands, adding transparency, rhythm, and a strong sense of place to the arrival sequence.

Interior Spaces Crafted with Local Materials

Guests enter the hotel from the top level, where the reception floor unfolds along a linear plan. The lobby, lounge bar, multifunctional stage, and mezzanine offices are all oriented toward panoramic mountain views, reinforcing the hotel’s close relationship with its surroundings.

Interior finishes celebrate local materials and artisanal craftsmanship. Bamboo shoot shells collected from nearby forests, reclaimed timber, carbonized wood, woven bamboo installations, and black stone surfaces create a warm, tactile atmosphere. Many of these elements were developed in collaboration with local artisans, ensuring authenticity while supporting regional craft traditions.

Restaurant and Social Spaces

Located within an expanded ground-floor podium, the restaurant transitions gradually from enclosed dining spaces to open-air terraces overlooking the forest. Its construction prioritizes the reuse of on-site and leftover materials, including demolished red bricks, bamboo treads, reclaimed stones, and semi-finished woven components.

These materials are integrated into walls, ceilings, and terrazzo flooring, striking a balance between cost efficiency, sustainability, and high-quality design. The restaurant becomes both a social hub and an extension of the landscape, offering guests a dining experience deeply connected to nature.

Guest Rooms: Calm, Grounded, and Nature-Focused

The hotel’s 25 guest rooms are arranged in a fan-shaped layout, maximizing views toward the mountain. Room typologies include courtyard suites, high-floor rooms, and standard units, each designed to offer privacy while maintaining a strong visual connection to the surrounding forest.

Earth-toned color palettes unify natural materials, exposed structural frames, and handcrafted details, extending the hotel’s architectural language into intimate, restful interiors. The rooms are designed to feel grounded and serene—spaces where guests can fully experience the rhythm of mountain life.

A Model for Sustainable Mountain Hospitality

Clouhaus Hotel demonstrates how adaptive reuse, local craftsmanship, and sustainable material strategies can redefine boutique hospitality in sensitive natural environments. By respecting the mountain’s ecology, celebrating regional culture, and minimizing environmental impact, the project offers a compelling model for contemporary mountain hotel design in China and beyond.

All the photographs are works of Wen Studio