Atelier d’More suspends a study space in the sky over Nanjing

Among Atelier d’More’s various interior projects, Yixin Space stands out for its experiential – and altimetric – peculiarity. It is a study haven suspended 100 meters in the air within an office skyscraper in Nanjing, China. Starting from the most modular and standardized condition – the “cells” of a high-rise structural grid – the interior becomes a landscape of diverse ways to study, concentrate, or contemplate. The space shifts seamlessly from communal work zones to secluded nooks, from wide-open views over the city to custom-made cocooning pods.

The layout, guided by the rational framework of the existing structure, opens with an entrance that defines the project’s atmospheric language: pale woods, a twelve-seat shared table, and a distinctly horizontal architecture of lines. Parallel planes at varying heights create a gentle progression through the long interior, while subtle curves lend the space a dynamic flow.
But light is the true protagonist. A warm, pervasive glow emanates from a custom feature running through the upper volume of the space: a wooden frame stretched with an ivory-toned textile that filters daylight, diffuses artificial light, and merges seamlessly with the bookshelves to form a singular visual grid.

In the adjoining areas, the project explores different forms of spatial experience: small individual rooms, a silence area, and a low-decibel zone. Where ceiling heights rise – left mostly open except where mechanical routing requires – pods emerge. Some are stacked wooden pods for total retreat; others are suspended meditation pods that float through the space and extend all the way to the glass façade, with a transparent desk that can be used freely while, for example, looking out over the city from above.

Yixin Space proposes a human, inhabitable reinterpretation of the tower’s structural logic, both echoing and countering the blurred boundaries between building and technical apparatus that define the landscape of other Chinese cities like Chongqing. By combining the principles of micro-housing with the presence of a sculptural core, an answer is sought to the growing demand for “other” spaces – such as those suited for hybrid or remote work – within increasingly vast and fast-paced urban environments.