Faculty of Design

Environmental Design - Interior Design Specialization

Sabrina Zhang

Meditation Mine

For my design project, I chose to take on the challenge of renovating an abandoned copper mine shaft in Ireland. The project is a hospitality base architecture that aims to boost the local economy and rekindle the town's former glory. The copper mine has a rich local history and is situated in a stunning location, offering extraordinary views of the surrounding mountains and ocean.My design proposal focuses on sustainable development, with the goal of preserving the existing structure of the mine shaft rather than demolishing it. The renovated building will serve as a meditation place that is open to the world, providing visitors with an opportunity to relax and reconnect with nature.The space will feature a variety of amenities, including meditation rooms, yoga studios, and a bathing pool. The design emphasizes natural materials and earth tones, with the intention of creating a calm and peaceful atmosphere. The building will be outfitted with eco-friendly features such as solar panels, rainwater harvesting, and green roofs to minimize its environmental impact.Overall, my goal for this project is to create a space that honors the history of the copper mine while also providing a unique and sustainable hospitality experience for visitors. I believe that this project has the potential to positively impact the local economy and inspire others to pursue sustainable design solutions.

“The copper resort is a renovated project of a 20th-century copper mine, located in west cork, Ireland. The selected site is visually sitting on half of the Allihies mountain, having extraordinary water surrounding views of the Atlantic Ocean. This cost line building is being trans- form to a cozy living nook where people could hide behind the natural aroma mist or wrap themselves inside a storybook and dream saltley in Irish mythology. Combining his- toric and modern architecture through inlaying a group of architectural cubes into a mountain landscape, a circulation construction set the heritage as a main point, providing a variety of view capture windows for visual orientation while enriching functionality for retreat, meditation, and yoga purposes. Honoring the original building of the copper mine shaft reminds people always ‘look back’. This hospitality architecture will support the local community economically by in- creasing local employment, developing tourism as a major new industry, and increasing the revenue of the town. The space is thoughtfully designed and intended to strategy special uniqueness - capturing light and shadow in meditation space; manipulating the color to provide a semi-underground visual experience for guests; fragrance acts as a guide and a space divider; building a connection to the past of the land through the architectural language of heritage. These elements welcome guests from afar to find their spiritual purification and physical recovery, creating temperature and atmosphere beyond the spaces.”