The Swallow House locates on the two islands at the center of the Yangpi Wetland Park, featuring a unique landscape and good privacy. The seven small houses, surrounded by the water and vegetations, are distributed at appropriate intervals along the edge of the small islands so that each has a spectacular view. The island is connected by a bridge, but guests can also take boats for a different experience.
The two types of rooms are randomly distributed, both creating the feeling of living under a large roof, which also looks like wings of a bird, who settles here, lingers on the island for a while and lands on the water. The form of the architecture echoes Chinese traditional buildings. For one thing, they magnify the proportion of the space under the eaves, connecting the living space and nature. For the other, they create a pleasant living space through the scale to embody the relationship among people, the space and nature.
The slope of the house’s folded roof is kept similar to the contour of the mountain so that the houses and distant mountains can be seen through the nearby reeds. From this angle, the houses and the mountain seem to echo each other from a distance. Both types are light, with open interfaces allowing air to pass under the roof for energy conservation. In terms of ways of construction, we mainly chose steel structure, which are assembled and welded on-site, which is convenient for re-assembly, updating, restoration and move. This is also in line with the construction logic of the traditional Chinese architecture. There’re also few connections between the building and the earth to reduce environmental damages.