The project is located on the mountainside in Qifeng Village, in 245 sq m. The two-storey commune's house was once a public place for the village's production brigade. Its wooden structure is well preserved and will serve the villagers' modern life again after appropriate renovation.
For visitors from outside, it would be a museum showcasing the history and features of Qifeng Village. For local residents, it would be a public lounge where they can gather and chat over a cup of tea. Our renovation strategies used the following principles.
1. A focus on structural reinforcement and the restoration of exterior walls and the roof. We transformed some space into a double-height to improve natrual lighting and ventilation.
2. To do "subtraction" to the original space for more diversified functionality and higher efficiency. Some floor slabs of the 2nd floor were removed to form an interior double-height "street", where the staircase were relocated. This made it possible to separately operate the exhibition hall on the 1st floor and the villagers' lounge on the 2nd floor, presenting a space of "double operation units and multi functions".
3. A use local materials and focus on recycling and processing. From black tiles on the roof to the simple wooden floor on the 2nd floor, durable materials could be found and re-used. The commune's house that we finally presented was a result of cooperation by the villagers, local craftsmen and the architects. For our design team, this project was a most thorough practice of our "buildingless" approach.
All the information about how to enter the 2020 WAN Awards is here.
We are very happy to offer support so please don’t hesitate to email Georgia, WAN Awards Event Coordinator with any questions at Georgia.Baily@haymarket.com.
Last year more than 40 countries took part in the WAN Awards with strong showings from Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. And we saw some truly outstanding projects, take a look at the winners from last year here.