- Interior
The Loong Swim Club in Suzhou, China, is also sometimes compared to the Alice in Wonderland film. Rounded imaginative, shapes create a streamlined space where young and old can enjoy themselves.
It is the work of the Shanghai-based design studio X+Living, which has a fantasy-driven aesthetic as its trademark. Their imaginative bookstores and shopping malls seem to lie just on the surface of the rabbit hole in which Alice falls. The sports centre has offices in more than ten major Chinese cities. For this centre, the newest settlement, the Loong Swim Club wanted X-Living to create a dynamic space that focuses on the habits and preferences of the users; parents and their children.
"The fairy tale doesn't stop after the swimming lesson. It simply continues"
The reception is certainly remarkable. It is home to a large whale that wraps itself around a column and a desk in the shape of a ship. The swimming pool is surrounded by fog and huge lamps in the form of water droplets floating above the water. In the room next to the pool there is a cosy reading area where parents can relax while watching their children's swimming lessons through curved windows.
The fairy tale doesn't stop after the swimming lesson. It simply continues in the bath and dressing room and the restaurant with play area. All fully furnished with soft pastel colours and clean black lines to visually continue the fairy tale story.
All Images Courtesy of Shao Feng