Ten years ago, Four Seas (Sihai) Group was already a well-known catering brand in Hong Kong and Macau, and owned the largest buffet restaurant in Asia, "Four Seas One Family". Actually, it was a forerunner of today’s “Internet celebrity restaurant” – it has been the common memory of almost everyone living in Guangzhou in the 1990’s – Four Seas Buffet Birthday Party. In 2011, the group rented 500 acres of woodland surrounded by water systems near the University Town. It is hoped that all our relatives and friends “within four seas” (on earth) can get to know the place and the people through enjoying one meal and staying one night. The essence of Cantonese cuisine, " careful selection of local and fresh ingredients, meticulous cooking techniques and making the most out of the old while bringing forth the new ", has become the guideline of our design.

This is exactly “go with the flow” attitude towards life. No wonder Guangzhou is known as the most “Buddha-like” capital.

The 500-acre park is planned to be transformed into a leisure estate with high-end services, providing facilities such as equestrian center, contemporary art gallery, whale pavilion, forest restaurant, tree house hotel, lakeside tea room, cave wine cellar, etc., along the gentle slope amid water, mountain and forest. The design of the park was jointly completed by Japan's Fujimoto Sosuke Architects and FEI Architects. Located on a gentle slope with a row of century-old rubber banyans, the first phase of the forest restaurant is reconstructed from the original old buildings. The purpose of the design is to respect nature and the plan was developed around the local century-old woods. First of all, the site was leveled into a terrace with height difference of about 2 meters; and borrowing from the layout of the traditional courtyard house, it was arranged into a three-entry courtyard rising in layers along the mountain. Furthermore, 9 sets of single-storey villas with simulated thatched roofs reflect the lush greenery of ancient trees on all four sides, looming in the shadow of the trees. The keynote of the buildings is to return to the basics and blend with nature. Since it’s so low-key, "why not call it Han She (humble house)".

Original Architectural Design Plan

General Layout

Equestrian Practice Range

Dragon Horse Spirit

West Facade of the First Courtyard

The Second Courtyard

Night View of the Dragon Room of the Third Courtyard

"Please come to my Han She for a gathering" is a common modest phrase used by Cantonese when inviting friends to have a meal at home. How to make the guests feel at home in a simple but not rough house? We resort to the “mantra” of Cantonese cuisine again: “Using only local and fresh ingredients; meticulous cooking; making the most out of the old while bringing forth the new.”

Guangzhou was the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road in ancient time, and boat has been the totem of marine culture. The property owner has been purchasing retired fishing boats in the past few years, retaining the timber after dismantling the boats. These are all high-quality mahogany. As the surrounding old villages have been demolished one after another owing to the advancement of urbanization, the hemp stones and ancient blue bricks in the old streets and alleys have been collected and used as building materials.

 Boatwood Applied in Pillars

Untreated old Black Brick and trial masonry

Old Black Bricks Applied to Railings

  Granite plate

Recycled Granite Plate

Granite Plate Applied to Pavement

Untreated Jiangxi BambooJiangxi Bamboo Applied to the Lounge Roof

There are two more materials that are “waste”-turned treasures. One is the red sandstone dug from the basement of another construction site, which has always been the cornerstone of local dwellings. In addition to being used for masonry walls to retain soil, it is also used as fine stone concrete for flowerbed fences. The other is the oyster shells from a seafood restaurant operated by the property owner, which is also a widely used exterior wall material for coastal dwellings in southern Guangdong.

Red Sandstone Crushed into Gravel

Test of Using Precast Red Sandstone as Fine Stone Concrete

Application of Red Sandstone in Flowerbed

Laying Gravel on the Shoulder

Untreated Oyster Shells

The wide garden paved with hemp stones under old trees, the distinctive red sandstone, the oyster shell walls, the thatched huts made of reclaimed boatwood, as well as the hollow courtyard walls newly built with old bricks, the oyster shell lamps and the boat wood devices, all combine to make the magnificent three-entry courtyard a simple but not coarse “Han She”.

Farmhouse

Restaurant Interior

"He Lou Xuan" Renderings