• Warf Memory: Exhibition Hall - West-line Studio

    Warf Memory: Exhibition Hall - West-line Studio

  • Warf Memory: Exhibition Hall - West-line Studio

    Warf Memory: Exhibition Hall - West-line Studio

  • Bapan Yard No.2 - Studio A+

    Bapan Yard No.2 - Studio A+

  • Bapan Yard No.2 - Studio A+

    Bapan Yard No.2 - Studio A+

  • Google, Spruce Goose - ZGF

    Google, Spruce Goose - ZGF

  • Jiaxing Qixing Xiyue Rural Complex Exhibition Center - Antao Design

    Jiaxing Qixing Xiyue Rural Complex Exhibition Center - Antao Design

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Adaptive Reuse

Adaptive Reuse: innovation while protecting heritage

These entries combine imagination and ingenuity for spectacular results

by Alison Carter 15 July 2019 2019

ZGF partnered with Google to transform the landmark Spruce Goose Hangar. A four-level ‘building-within-a-building’ was developed inside the seven-story, 750-foot-long historic wooden structure. Built by Howard Hughes in 1943 for the construction of the Hercules IV airplane (the “Spruce Goose”), the hangar now comprises office, meeting, event spaces, and employee amenity spaces. 

Revitalization of antique architecture in the countryside is critical in a fast-developing country like modern China. In the last ten years, fast-built universal concrete houses emerged rapidly, occupying the once picturesque countryside. However, while this type of architecture is economic, it lacks character and this is evident in Bapan village in Guizhou Province in southern China, home of the Bouyei (Buyi) people, one of the oldest ethnic peoples in China.

Bapan Yard No.2 reflects the rigorous analysis and engagement work that took place with the local community, and the proposal strives to rescue and revitalize the deteriorating antique house at Bapan Yard No.2 with minimal intervention. This is a pioneer project of a series of Bapan poverty alleviation projects and a prototype of reconciling traditions and modernity through architecture.

The Warf Memory: Exhibition Hall is located in the rural Bingan Warf, a shoal in the middle of the Chishui river, at the border between the regions of Guizhou and Sichuan, in South-West China. The village is located on a deep ditch on dangerous cliffs and the town has developed its own architectural style with hanging stilted wooden buildings, 20 meters higher than the river level.  From the outside, the building remains sympathetic to the village’s original character, whilst the inside is a dense assembly of vertical wooden sticks that ‘zoom’ space in unexpected ways, screening and opening views along the exhibition route. 

The Jiaxing Qixing Xiyue Rural Complex Exhibition Center used to be an agricultural glass greenhouse. It is now being developed using three design strategies as an ecological agriculture complex incorporating a 6 metre space for planting and picking areas and service space for food processing.  Another space has been developed to provide those living in urban situations with a unique area for countryside holidays. The design layout is from the village concept of traditional residential culture, which is living in a clan. 

The World Architecture News Awards showcase the best international design in both current and future projects. All 2019 entries can be seen here. 


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