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Renovation of The Mahavira Hall of Honghua Zen Temple
Renovation of The Mahavira Hall of Honghua Zen Temple
Hubei, China
Finalist, 2026 A+Awards, Details - Architecture +Wood
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Renovation of The Mahavira Hall of Honghua Zen Temple
Hubei, China
Finalist, 2026 A+Awards, Details - Architecture +Wood
STATUS
Built
YEAR
2022
SIZE
0 sqft - 1000 sqft
BUDGET
$1M - 5M
The Mahavira Hall and the Hall Enshrining the Founding Master Pagoda are the oldest surviving structures of Honghua Zen Temple. Despite continuous renovations and additions since the 1970s, the mountain's damp-cold climate has still caused structural decay to the buildings—rotting wood, moisture-weathered walls, settled foundations—further exacerbating the inconvenience of daily religious life.
To preserve the temple’s collective memory, this renovation adopts a diachronic approach. On one hand, the two original halls are restored to their historical appearance, following Hubei's traditional column-and-tie wooden craftsmanship and cold-laid tile roofing practices. On the other hand, the key intervention lies between the two halls—removing the later-added storage space, restoring the courtyard, and inserting a new hall of prefabricated bamboo-wood structure in the middle.
This move transforms the originally cramped and damp gap space into an elevated and bright Buddha Hall space. The backward movement of the Buddha Hall frees up a more spacious Dharma propagation space. The raised floor of the Buddha Hall effectively isolates moisture and discreetly accommodates air conditioning equipment, serving as a temperature and humidity regulator between the two halls. The four large folding doors on the front of the Buddha Hall allow the space to be used independently by monks for morning chanting, improving daily religious life. The light courtyard on the side of the Buddha Hall frames the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree on the abbot's back mountain, allowing nature and memory to blend and coexist in the daily life of worshippers.
The result embodies Abbot Shi Zhengci's vision of a Buddhist sanctuary that is "warm and approachable"—a place where history breathes and the present finds its place.
To preserve the temple’s collective memory, this renovation adopts a diachronic approach. On one hand, the two original halls are restored to their historical appearance, following Hubei's traditional column-and-tie wooden craftsmanship and cold-laid tile roofing practices. On the other hand, the key intervention lies between the two halls—removing the later-added storage space, restoring the courtyard, and inserting a new hall of prefabricated bamboo-wood structure in the middle.
This move transforms the originally cramped and damp gap space into an elevated and bright Buddha Hall space. The backward movement of the Buddha Hall frees up a more spacious Dharma propagation space. The raised floor of the Buddha Hall effectively isolates moisture and discreetly accommodates air conditioning equipment, serving as a temperature and humidity regulator between the two halls. The four large folding doors on the front of the Buddha Hall allow the space to be used independently by monks for morning chanting, improving daily religious life. The light courtyard on the side of the Buddha Hall frames the thousand-year-old ginkgo tree on the abbot's back mountain, allowing nature and memory to blend and coexist in the daily life of worshippers.
The result embodies Abbot Shi Zhengci's vision of a Buddhist sanctuary that is "warm and approachable"—a place where history breathes and the present finds its place.
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