Kooo Architects has converted a seven-storey building in the centre of Guangzhou, China into a guesthouse with lantern-like frosted glass walls.
Hotel Far & Near Nanhao St sits in a dense residential area of the city.

"Due to the high density of buildings and their close distance between each other, one can see the clothes drying on the neighbour's balcony through the windows," said the studio.
"How to allow the visitors of the guesthouse to not have this kind of visual interruption while enjoying abundant natural light became one of the major problems we had to solve."

Kooo Architects stripped the original structure back to its bare concrete frame and added industrial-style frosted channel glass, U-shaped glass that can be used to make uninterrupted walls of glazing. This type of glazing floods rooms with natural light while protecting guest's privacy from the overlooking by neighbouring residential buildings.

These large sections of channel glass also turn Hotel Far & Near Nanhao St ? which stands taller than most of its neighbours ?  into a beacon when it is dark.
The channel glass even acts an insulation layer, helping to maintain consistent temperatures in the rooms in Guangzhou's subtropical climate.

Each floor has been designed with four-room layout, each with a double-height living room.
A mezzanine bedroom area, reached via a ladder, sits above a wet room with a toilet and shower.

The exposed concrete frame contrasts with the liv...