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Quadrangle Courtyard

Quadrangle Courtyard

Yunnan, China

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Chu Orange Manor Living Center

Quadrangle Courtyard

Yunnan, China

Firm

SUZAO

Type

Commercial › Office

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2023

SIZE

5000 sqft - 10,000 sqft

"Fang Courtyard" is located in the Industrial Park of Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. The client need us to design a service quarter in a corner area of the campus, as a independent place to work and relax.

When the client led us to a construction site tucked away in an industrial park, pointing to the concrete frame of a completed first floor ,and it will be built as a Imitation pseudo-classical buildings. When he told us that he want a quadrangle and invited us to redesign it. We realized he didn't just want a quadrangle in the traditional sense. So the proposition became clear - to design a building that not only harmonizes with the modern industrial park environment but also retains the charm of a "quadrangle courtyard", and also serves office and residential functions. For us, what's more important is to strip away the false veneer of "pseudo-classical" and return it to a real house.

Our first challenge was how to design a appropriate building with traditional "quadrangle" type within the context of a modern industrial park. On the premise of maintaining the original structural system and building technical and economic indicators unchanged, discard the shell of the antique courtyard and reorganize the functional space.

The traditional "quadrangle" space is closed off from the outside, with an inward focus on the courtyard landscape. This allows for a formal harmony with the closed industrial buildings. Therefore, we designed the windows with restraint and selectivity, and further clarified the entry interface with a clean dividing wall. We successfully maintained the aesthetic of the quadrangle while engaging in a dialogue with industrial architectures around.

Before entering the quadrangle, we wanted to create a vivid experience that contrasts with the pure, honest, and scale-ambiguous facade. So we inserted two hollow partitions on both sides of the gate, breaking up the heavy wall and adding a touch of lightness. This allowed controlled views into the quadrangle, with the inner scenery revealing itself as you walk through.

Traditional dwellings in Yunnan have relatively fixed form and standards, such as "Yikeyin" type in the central districts of Yunnan and dwellings of the Bai nationality in Dali, each with their own traditional prototypical requirements. In terms of layout and spatial axes, our design strictly adheres to these traditional models. The evenly spaced columns were designed around the central courtyard, while not a "ancient" form, it serve to reinforce the ritual significance of the traditional courtyard's spatial form and standards. The transportation organization also reinterprets the "Horseshoe Gallery" of ancient times.

We used a moderate amount of flexibility to purposefully arrange light and courtyards within the traditional order, creating an uninterrupted spatial sequence of The straight entry corridor - Vestibule - Courtyard - Colonnade - Small Courtyard - Stairs -Corridor on the second floor. Entering the building, offices, dining rooms, and tea rooms with relatively strong public attributes are located on the ground floor. This floor has a stronger need for borrowing scenery from both inside and outside the quadrangle. We managed to achieve this while avoiding extending the view towards the industrial buildings. The outer wall limits the view, while the facade remains hidden from view, giving the ground floor more freedom in window placement.

Traditional quadrangle-style dwellings stress form and standards but are not bound by it, allowing for flexibility in construction based on different sites. When designing this quadrangle, we wanted to maintain that flexibility while borrowing elements from ancient models. Light is carefully manipulated in each space: cascading down from an elevated vestibule, filtered through grating panels, or seeping through hollow bricks in outer walls. People are bathed in light after entering through these corridors before finally entering the interior spaces. Only then does the ordered and lively "new quadrangle" spatial sequence come to a complete whole.

This was originally a project with a straightforward task: "build a quadrangle," but its unique site environment gave it a complex context that made it more challenging. This project was like a clearly defined composition assignment for us. Given a certain budget and within a "non-residential" context, we needed to design a mixed-use building based on traditional residential architecture prototypes and be used as an industrial park annex building. This building would have been one of the simplest and most intensively designed among all other Architectures in the industry campus, yet we hoped it could convey a message: every building deserves thoughtful consideration and construction, even within the constraints of controlling investment costs. We used simple construction methods and ordinary materials to create an extraordinary building. We don't see this as building a "mansion," rather we didn't use expensive materials or complex construction techniques to add value; it would be more appropriate to consider it as a industry building instead. Leaving aside its physical environment, we see this project as about balancing work and life when they intersect. This space must accommodate its owner's busy work life while also fulfilling his longing for poetic life. It's a carefully designed simple white box, an appropriately sized quadrangle; it also our answer to this task- a vessel that's as simple as possible but still rich in meaning, to accommodate life's complexities and conflicts.

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Quadrangle Courtyard

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Product Spec Sheet

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