Haikou GAOXINGLI Insun Cinema / One Plus Partnership

Architects: One Plus Partnership
Area: 6006 m²
Year: 2024
Photographs: Jonathan Leijonhufvud
Lead Architects: Ajax Law, Virginia Lung
Design Team: ONE PLUS PARTNERSHIP
Clients: HAINAN XIN TIAN DI INSUN FILM LIMITED COMPANY
City: Haikou
Country: China

Haikou GAOXINGLI Insun Cinema entertainment project designed by One Plus Partnership in Haikou, China has redefined the cinematic experience through a material and spatial language inspired by the surrounding oceanic landscape. Completed with a focus on texture and atmosphere, the cinema replaces conventional maritime blue with a sand-related brick aesthetic, drawing on Haikou’s coastal identity without literal references. The bricks are sculpted into wave-like forms throughout the interiors, forming walls, furniture, and fixtures that shift in appearance depending on light and perspective. Sunlight, typically absent in cinema architecture, filters through selected openings, highlighting the tactile qualities of brick. Layers of color, lighting, and custom furniture integrate visual rhythm and sensory complexity across lobbies and auditoriums. The project combines narrative, craftsmanship, and functionality, with curved spatial forms that guide movement while ensuring safety. Each auditorium features distinct material palettes and lighting strategies that reflect the broader theme of coastal abstraction.

Haikou gaoxingli insun cinema / one plus partnership

Haikou is a city located on the north coast of Hainan Island in China, surrounded by the South China Sea. The architects aimed to create a design connected to the oceanic context of Haikou, but with a distinctive approach. Rather than using the conventional blue color typically associated with the sea, they chose brick as the central material for the design concept. Bricks, composed of sand commonly found on beaches, were selected to symbolically reference the coastal environment. This choice allows for the development of a narrative that is both visual and material. The use of brick introduces a sense of timelessness, representing a material capable of forming enduring and expressive spaces that resist wear over time, much like the enduring moments captured during a birthday celebration.

Natural sunlight enters this cinema, a feature rarely found in similar venues where windows are typically excluded. Bricks were precisely arranged to resemble waves, with the layers composed so they remain visible from multiple perspectives. Lighting is strategically hidden within architectural recesses, and air vents are discreetly integrated overhead, only noticeable upon close observation. Viewed from certain angles, no two bricks appear to share the same length, enhancing the visual rhythm. Tables and chairs are designed to reflect the crest of waves, with flared ends that resemble the shape of a bell. As the brick elements ascend to form the walls, they are finished in varying shades of topaz. Upon close inspection, the bricks display a rough surface texture, yet the overall atmosphere of the space feels unexpectedly soft. The lobby’s character is equally vivid in both darkness and daylight. The arrangement of bricks resembles a library’s bookshelf, evoking a sense of order and narrative. Wave-like patterns continue across the floor, with gray-painted edges clearly visible even from a distance. These design elements are supported by lighting that highlights the contours and also ensures safety by preventing accidents. The wave motif extends throughout the interior, evolving into countertops and reception booths, with curves flowing in multiple directions.

Around the corner, exposed pipes weave across the ceiling, while blocks of color made from velvety fabric introduce a rich tactile element to the space. The selected colors align with the overall atmosphere, evoking an emotional response as if happiness could be perceived through thought. Circular light fixtures hover around the pillars, resembling the Iron Ring of Prometheus. On the floor, a playful mascot figure appears to float, dance, and skip along the surface, engaging visitors visually. Nearby, a copper-blended chair offers a warm, enveloping form, reminiscent of autumn air. The design intent remains clear throughout—colors echo the spontaneous creativity of children’s pastel drawings, wrapping around the chairs and columns. These chromatic gestures serve to unify the space, acting as visual connectors that hold the area together, much like a structural framework.

In the first auditorium, vibrant colors sweep across the walls in broad strokes, resembling the motion of a paintbrush moving through space. The intensity of both color and texture can be perceived from adjacent rooms, extending the visual impact beyond the immediate interior. Dimensional fabric panels are cut to resemble freshly hewn wood, layered with colors that visually link the auditorium to the design language of the lobby. The seating is arranged in a deliberate pattern that evokes the appearance of a florist’s atelier, enhanced by a subtle suggestion of lavender and peony fragrances. The architects intended to evoke the sensation of waves using a color palette that deviates from the conventional, employing complex and unexpected material combinations to enrich the visual and sensory experience.

In the second auditorium, the perimeter features panels colored in shades that evoke tiger lilies and rough brick. Lighting elements are arranged vertically, resembling margin lines that extend from floor to ceiling. From the top of the auditorium, curved silhouettes rise to a height sufficient to prevent physical contact, ensuring the safety of visitors. This element is not only functional but also contributes to the spatial composition. Viewed from specific angles, the curves subtly reference the South China Sea encircling the island, suggesting a visual and emotional warmth that wraps the space like a blanket. The atmosphere resonates with a sensory richness, evoking a feeling akin to euphoria.