Xin Yuan Is Honored with the Golden A' Design Award for Skyboat Cafe and WalkOn Glass in Architecture, Building and Structure Design

Xin Yuan acknowledged for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COMO, Italy, April 22, 2022 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Golden A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category for Skyboat Cafe and WalkOn Glass by Xin Yuan, designed for XinY structural consultants. The award was conferred within the 2021 - 2022 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.

What the Golden A' Design Award Means

The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.

Regarding Skyboat Cafe and WalkOn Glass

Skyboat is a two-storey building set above a 613 metre deep sinkhole in Leye, China. Hotel rooms are placed on the ground floor, a cafe on the first floor and a viewing platform on the roof. The platform includes a walk-on glass floor measuring 10 by 12.5 metres. The building spans the narrow passageway at the top of the sinkhole and cantilevers 34 metres and 22 metres to each side of the mountain ridge. A low centre of gravity allows the structure to balance itself. Only five supports are used, which limits damage to the local plants.

About Xin Yuan

Professor Xin Yuan is a structural engineers working on extend the boundary of structures. He founded XinY in 2001, it consists of a main office in Shanghai, with office in London. He founded and administrate 'China Structure Forum' ( www.okok.org) for over 20 years, today with about 360,000 members and over 1,000,000 posts.

Award Record

With this recognition, Xin Yuan is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.

About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award

The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Typical entries include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. The awarded architectural projects are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/architecture

About A' Design Award & Competition

Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com

Press Resources

Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/137741
A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/137741
Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!137741
Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/314097
Further Information from the Laureate: http://www.okok.org/xiny

Media Contact

Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953

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Fact Sheet

The Work

Project: Skyboat Cafe and WalkOn Glass
Function: Cafe and WalkOn Glass
Category: Architecture, Building and Structure Design
Discipline: Spatial Design
Industry: Architecture
Colors: Black, Dim Gray, Light Steel Blue, Dark Slate Gray and Gainsboro
Images: 5
Client: XinY structural consultants

The Recognition

Laureate: Xin Yuan
Country: China
Recognition: Golden A' Design Award
Edition: 2021 - 2022
Design ID: #137741

Credits

Team: XinY & Yuanlizhu, Guangxi Leye DashiWei, Zhong Huaying Studio, LiLi & Shanghai ZhongJian Architectural Design and China Railway 25th Group 6th Company
Image Credits: Photographer Li Jin, Yongheng,2019.; Photographer Yongheng, Yongheng,2019.; Photographer Xin Yuan, XinY,2019.; Photographer Yongheng, Yongheng,2019. Video Credits: Yongheng

Design Details

Unique Properties: The structure cantilevers 36m over the 613m deep sinkhole. The top of the sinkhole is extremely narrow which can only accommodate a small passageway. Skyboat is proposed to span over the passageway and cantilever out to each side of the mountain ridge. Similar to the tumbler toys, it is proposed to lower the structure centre of gravity and utilize the minimum area (10metres by 30metres), in which way, the self-balance of the structure is therefore achieved.
Inspiration: A big goose, a e tumbler toy. The long crack at the top of the ridge indicates the site is not stable. Apart from grouting the existing crack, it is also proposed to have the key struts at each ends of the building inclining towards the ridge, the horizontal component forces from which then provided the embracing forces to the ridge and hence improved the stability of the site.
Research: The structural system and component arrangements were adapted to the force distribution, perfectly aligned with the elegant architectural geometry. By increasing the key strut lengths, the pre-cambering of the front cantilever structure is then achieved, which can compensate the deflections under the dead loads and some of the live loads. This also protects the glazings from large deformations.
Challenge: The structure cantilevers 36m over the 613m deep sinkhole. The top of the sinkhole（the site）is extremely narrow which can only accommodate a small passageway. A long crack at the site indicates the site is not stable. Apart from grouting the existing crack, it is also proposed to have the key struts at each ends of the building inclining towards the ridge, the horizontal component forces from which then provided the embracing forces to the ridge and hence improved the stability of the site.
Realization and Technology: There are only five supports proposed. This minimizes the damages to the local vegetation. To protect the local plants and rivers, hanging falsework was used during the construction stage and to have the structural members installed by pieces.
Operation and Interaction: Visitors can enjoy coffee in the beauty of nature, or they can walk on the glass floor above the 600-meter deep pit to experience the shock of their heartbeats.
Project Duration and Location: The project started on 2018 in Leye China and finished on 2019.
Specifications: two-storey building consisting of hotel rooms at the ground floor, a café at the first floor and a roof viewing platform which contains a 10metre-by-12.5metre walk-on glass floor. The building comprises a construction area of 495m2 and covers a plan dimension of 10metres by 80metres. Both ends of the building cantilevers out by 34metres and 22metres respectively. The total steel weight used is 438 tonne.
Keywords: Skyboat, XinY, Glass floor, Cantilever, Leye, Dashiwei