LUO Studio won the Gold award in the 2019 WAN Awards for their project Longfu Life Experience Centre.
This real-estate sales centre in China's Henan province features a wooden structure designed by architecture firm LUO Studio to be easily adapted or dismantled.
Located in Puyang County, the Longfu Life Experience Centre was commissioned by an eco-farm operator engaging in property development, who required a space to target consumers chasing a green lifestyle. It was vital that it was sustainable and built from natural materials, to match his corporate identity.
Given the short lifespan of typical real-estate sales centres in China, LUO Studio also set out to develop a structure for that could be used in various ways, rather than limited to its primary function.
Using Mies van der Rohe's Crown Hall at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago as a model, the Beijing-based architects devised a modular structure, made up of units that could be produced from just three components. The modules take the form of “clustered columns”, inspired by the shape of trees. These can be applied independently or combined with others “just like Lego bricks”.
The clustered column was divided into five segments. The bottom part of each clustered column is in the shape of a regular polygon. These extend upward from the bottom and form a square outside edge. The result is a building that can be easily extended, reduced, or completely dismantled and rebuilt elsewhere. LUO Studio hopes the project will challenge the commonplace interiors of these sorts of sales centres, which can be described as "wasteful and complicated".
What did you/your organisation gain from drawing together an entry?
First of all, it’s a great honor to receive Gold Award in Wood in Architecture category. And it’s also the finest harvest for all our hard work. Every member was dedicated to the project and designers participated in the whole construction process, from supervision to management and optimization on site. Even during the Spring Festival, we only had three days off, which rarely happened for other design teams.
Therefore, it encourages us that we are rewarded for the arduous efforts, and then we would continue to strictly focus on the construction process of project, not merely the design itself.
How has winning the award given you more exposure?
Sure. Since WAN Awards is highly recognized in the domestic architecture academic circle, we have won much support and recognition of peers and seniors in the industry, although we are not yet receiving practical invitations for projects. Furthermore, it also increases our credibility of professional ability in the wooden architecture.
How did your win affect staff morale and the overall environment within your organisation?
Undoubtedly, we are greatly motivated and become more united, and have a firm belief in delivering more quality works.
How do you feel the award process has been beneficial to perceptions of your team within/outside the organisation?
It enables us to cooperate with other industries with more trust and respect, and gives us more confidence in further researching the wooden architecture.
We look forward to having more designs recognized by WAN Awards.