Palm Island | Hassell

Located to the north of Chongqing on the banks of Palm Lake and the Taiping Reservoir, the Palm Island project is a new hospitality precinct designed by HASSELL. The key element of the design is water and it has been melded with light and reflections for the project concept. When viewed from afar, the five buildings housing six different restaurants appear to float on the lake, which is the unique feature of the project by Palm Springs Real Estate Development. Patrons at each restaurant enjoy views of natural water vistas on one side and a private `water courtyard' on the other, integrated visually through the creation of an infinity pool-style water feature. This gives the architectural impression that the buildings are 'floating' on water. The designers drew inspiration from the geography of Chongqing, which sits at the convergence of the mighty Yangtze River and Jialing River, giving the city its nickname of being 'connected by two rivers'. Palm Spring also features the unique interplay of crystal-like glass structure and an external white ceramic covering that interacts with the lake waters to give off a musical quality. The ever-changing reflections during the day give change to a dreamlike quality at night.