Bayview Arrival by Soil Studios
Tucked within Haikou’s coastal greenery, The Bayview Pavilion by Soil Studios is conceived as a sanctuary for a residential community on Hainan Island.
Comprising an adults’ clubhouse, The Hideaway, and a children’s clubhouse, The Magic Forest, the pair forms a quiet dialogue of refuge and play. Each is composed with an attentive clarity: one, a low-slung garden pavilion framed by glass and screens; the other, an immersive landscape of color and tactility scaled to young bodies and imaginations.
Set along a lawn and threaded by decked pathways, The Hideaway presents as a slender volume in a garden. A filigree of timber screens and glazing establishes permeability, softening glare while mediating the tropical light. Under a slim roofline, the building reads as a singular object open to nature, its grassy frontage held by tall trees that cocoon the edge and temper coastal winds.
Arrival is orchestrated from the side: a first encounter with gridded timber screens concealing doors to function rooms, mah-jong rooms, a snooker room, and ancillary amenities. Along the walkway, softly lit curved walls introduce a sense of movement. At the vista’s end, twin organic sculptures and an artful pendant gather the material language into a quiet moment of focus.
Inside, the plan opens to a voluminous, 6.2-metre-high salon furnished with low seating that drops the eye line toward the landscape. Slender round columns lend a classical poise to an interior otherwise anchored by contemporary pieces. On every side, timber screening modulates solar gain, sustaining an airy atmosphere and thermal comfort across long afternoons. At night, the ample glazing turns the pavilion into a gentle lantern for the community.
Even utilitarian spaces carry the project’s language. Rounded doors and frames, bespoke sconces, and a dialogue of stone and timber heighten tactility in the washrooms. At one end of the main hall, a tea bar stretches along a counter beneath a chandelier inspired by floating tealeaves. In a lawn-facing corner, a low table invites floor-seated tea sessions oriented toward the greenery.
Adjacent to the exterior, a slender bar counter and stools sit before a tiled screen that enfolds a small retreat. Outside, diverse seating offers zones for conversation, quiet work, or casual dining—each positioned to draw residents toward the landscape and each other.
Next to meandering paths, a playground, and a skate area, The Magic Forest extends the community’s network of play into an interior world for children. Where The Hideaway speaks in muted tones, this clubhouse embraces expressive color and scaled tactility, cultivating exploration, companionship, and imaginative make-believe.
Guided by a theme of hide-and-seek in a forest, shades of green ground the space. They run through play installations, wayfinding, and furniture that doubles as props for pretend play. Ribbed wall treatments and soft, upholstered seating encourage hands-on engagement. A meandering plan allows children to roam freely, supported by organic profiles and child-like forms—mushroom furniture, tree-trunk walls that arc into the ceiling, and alcoves for reading or whispered conversations.
