Conceived as a ‘Suspended Cloud’, this white pavilion in China’s Shandong province designed by Gad Line+ Studio serves as a visitor center that offers sweeping views across the mountainous landscape.

North of the city of Tai’an, unfolds in a landscape of rocky mountains, gorges, gullies and lush deciduous forest. It is also a geography rich in culture, with Mount Tai – the easternmost of the five Sacred Mountains of China – as its spiritual centre. Dotted with centuries-old temples and historic sites of pilgrimage, the mountain is also home to the striking new Jiunvfeng Study.

Situated atop one of Mount Tai’s smaller peaks, the centre is a contemporary complement to the region’s much older temples. While Jiunvfeng Study features a cafe and a reading room, the quiet, contemplative space is foremost a vessel to take in the majesty of nature.

Its organic form responds to the mountainside’s shifting topography, maximizing views of the landscape. From a winding path up the mountain, a discrete rubble wall marks the building’s narrow entry corridor, which stretches out sinuously to a pair of more generous spaces that respectively house the cafe and the reading room. Topped by a pristine white roof, a sleek double-height curtain wall frames the building, with the elongated room bookended by a pair of balconies.

"We hoped to build 'a floating cloud hovering in the mountains' to respond to the magnificent cloud sea of Mount Tai." — Gad Line+ Studio