Design conditions
Site: The existing foundation and basement need to be retained and utilized in the new deisgn.
Program: To provide spaces of different qualities and scales for art/garment collections and displays, fashion shows, procurement fair, workshops/lectures, bookstore, and restaurants/cafe/wine tasting.
Form
After a series of tests and simplifications, we decided to use a continuous spiral of a single-pitched roof to unify five buildings with different volumes while enclosing a courtyard in the center. In other words, a clear formal relationship is given to a complex group.
Space
Rich programs and a three-dimensional tilt of the roof create a great variety of interior spaces. Surrounding the courtyard, deep eaves provide a series of semi-outdoor spaces. The ceilings form a flexible system that stretches from indoors to outdoors, mediating the relationship among different spaces, as well as between spaces and structural components.
Structure + Material
We use a combination of concrete frame system and shear walls to produce spaces of diverse qualities, and reveal cast in-situ concrete in multiple places. Both the grating on the elevations and ceilings that provide shading and screening are made of bamboo fibre reinforced polymer. The roof is clad with Wangzhuan or traditional clay ceiling bricks. Due to the natural appearance of the materials chosen, the entire complex gives an overall feel of Tu Mu (earth and wood).