It would be a tremendous challenge to design and construct any building by the West Lake. West Lake State Guesthouse, a modern construction in the true sense, is a masterpiece designed by Dai Nianci, a distinguished landscape & architectural master, in the 1950s. The hotel itself is a landscape garden. In view of that, the design features the Nangao Mountain right across from the hotel as the main axis, from which public functions such as the entrance, the lobby, and restaurants are arranged. Besides, with the Jiuyao Mountain in the far distance as the secondary axis, guestrooms and courtyards are built. Thus, picturesque landscapes are borrowed, or incorporated, into the composition of the garden guesthouse by the West Lake, and a beautiful “garden in gardens” by the West Lake comes into shape and forms an important part of the West Lake Scenic Area. In this way, the geographical features of Hangzhou and national characteristics are perfectly preserved while elements of our time are highlighted.

Based on the quintessence of traditional aesthetics, the new design further utilizes modern materials and techniques to give it a vibrant modern look. With the saddle roof of the Song Dynasty adopted to reinforce the horizontal lines, reflection glass curtain walls of 1.6-meter large modules, lattice windows of precast concrete, and a well-designed color scheme characterized by gray dry-hanging stone and granite-imitated real stone paint, the whole construction looks extensive, stately, exquisite and graceful, which is consistent with the original design purpose of showing respect for nature, history and modernity.