DESIGN NAME: Courtyard Drum Tower
PRIMARY FUNCTION: Refurbished Office
INSPIRATION: The traditional roof in early China is not allowed people to move on it.
The renovation provides the possibilities of traditional Chinese roofs, making them activity spaces. Before Chinese roof has never being used as activity spaces,it was only a symbolic thing to emphasize the importance of the building. The renovation results in a roof with activity spaces. The studio displayed their working models on the roof,while it became an activity space, especially during the spring and autumn.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES / PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The Chinese-German office RSAA/ Büro Ziyu Zhuang just recently renovated their office in the Beijing central axis. The project, which is next to the tallest ancient landmarks of Beijing for more than 600 years – Drum Tower and Bell Tower- is transformed from a traditional Beijing-style courtyard-Siheyuan in Dongjiaogan Hutong.
The design target was to build a timeless workshop whilst embracing the surround cultural context into the yard. Therefore, the renovation was organized into 4 steps; 1. Refurbishing the old section using the traditional method; 2. Insert a timeless box as a function generator; 3. Reform the interface of the new yard space; 4. Organize the new space sequences under the link of the new interfaces.
To achieve the goals, after cleaning up some old unnecessary interfaces and exposed original traditional structures, Ziyu Zhuang and the team built a free-standing T-shaped volume made with glass to combine the original northern room, western room, and eastern room in order to form a more efficient working environment.
With the step-by-step approach explained above, Ziyu Zhuang converted a single yard space with one single image into a multi-layered space that follows its own narrative sequence. Some small interesting spaces, therefore, appear along the new path.
One small yard on the north-western wing of the T-shape volume was filled with AC outdoor units from different rooms and artificial green plants as a “camouflaged green light well” behind an opaque glass wall. The kitchen space shares the wall with its neighbor, whilst reusing the original structural components (red) and original tiles (green).
And the total construction cost was very efficiently controlled to be within 200,000RMB (30,000 USD) including the MEP and furniture cost. RSAA believe this renovation could be a great symbol of the link between the traditional Chinese lifestyle and the modern space visions under low cost.
One bookcase on the north-eastern wing of the T-shape volume also plays a role as a staircase to the rooftop level, where the views of the two ancient towers are introduced into the yard and space for office chatting and social gatherings.
The traditional roof of the Imperial Palace or the form of the sloping roof in early China is not allowed people to move on it.
The renovation provides the possibilities of traditional Chinese roofs, making them activity spaces. Previously, the roof has become a place to present models. But now, it can be used as a display and activity space.
Before Chinese roof has never been used as activity spaces,it was only a symbolic thing to emphasize the importance of the building. The renovation results in a roof with activity spaces. RSAA displayed their working models on the roof,while it became an activity space, especially during the spring and autumn.
OPERATION / FLOW / INTERACTION: The design target is to build a timeless workshop but embracing the surround cultural context into the yard. Therefore the renovation was organized into 3 steps: 1. Refurbished the old part under traditional method; 2. Inset a “timeless box” as a “functional generator”; 3. Reform the interface of the new yard space; 4. Organize the new space sequences under the link of the new interfaces.
PROJECT DURATION AND LOCATION: The project is situated in Dongjiaogan Hutong No.7, Xicheng District, Beijing, China. It is next to the tallest ancient landmarks of Beijing for more than 600 years – Drum and Bell Tower. The project started in 2015 and completed in 2018.
FITS BEST INTO CATEGORY: Architecture, Building and Structure Design
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PRODUCTION / REALIZATION TECHNOLOGY: -
SPECIFICATIONS / TECHNICAL PROPERTIES: Even this is a renovation in an old and traditional area, new technologies are introduced into the project. Photosensitive sunshade devices ensure the sunlight isn't glare and does not affect work efficiency.
TAGS: RSAA, Office, Siheyuan, Old building, Renovation, Beijing, Historic building
RESEARCH ABSTRACT: -
CHALLENGE: -
ADDED DATE: 2019-02-14 02:58:33
TEAM MEMBERS (10) : Principal Architects: Ziyu Zhuang, Na Li, Design Team: Yi Liu, Fabian Wieser, Shifeng Zhang, Dongdong Chen, Wenpu Chai(Intern), Xiaoxu Liu(Intern), Mian Wang(Intern) and Junya Huang(Intern)
IMAGE CREDITS: Image #1: Photographer Hui Zhang, Courtyard Drum Tower, 2018.
Image #2: Photographer RSAA/ Büro Ziyu Zhuang, Courtyard Drum Tower, 2016.
Image #3: Photographer RSAA/ Büro Ziyu Zhuang, Courtyard Drum Tower, 2016.
Image #4: Photographer RSAA/ Büro Ziyu Zhuang, Courtyard Drum Tower, 2017.
Image #5: Photographer Hui Zhang, Courtyard Drum Tower, 2018.
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