Rehabilitation & extension of a private house

As a contemporary reinterpretation of vernacular layout principles, the house adopts traditional spatial arrangements based around a central courtyard.

Yantai Shan, a mountain to the west of Beijing, is highly renowned for its orchards. Extremely attractive in the spring when all the trees are in bloom, this is a holiday location which is highly prized by Beijing residents. Our client chose this location as a site for their country house, to be developed as an oasis of calm to enjoy times with family and friends and escape from the stress of the capital.

The existing building on this site featured architecture which was entirely typical of empirical local structures, in both formal and functional terms. Expanding upon the existing L-shaped footprint, the new extension completes the square to create a central courtyard. While the new building features a modern geometry, the curved treatment of the south-eastern corner reflects the curved outlines of traditional roofing, providing an expansive element of height in the main rooms. The material properties of brick, a traditional and locally-produced material, are exploited here to the fullest extent. The pattern of the façades, with an alternating arrangement of solid and perforated walls, runs along the courtyard at ground level, forming a link with the existing structure.