“In-between Pavilion” is TAO's second urban renewal project completed in Nantou Ancient Town, Shenzhen. It is also one of the exhibition galleries of the Diverse Homology Museum complex, narrating the mutual influence between political power and geography of the Pearl River Delta region, centered around Nantou. It was originally a place ofhigh-density with two adjacent residential buildings on the site, and public spaces were intensely compressed.Under the interaction of constant renewal, a symbiotic relationship between spaces of different natures and eras is formed. This state of the natural symbiosis gives the project a unique aesthetics of chaos and vitality in the Nantou Ancient Town.

The site is located on the north side of Nantou Ancient Town in Shenzhen, comprising of three different property plots. The autonomous and spontaneous construction in the urban village has resulted in a confined spatial layout and visual occlusion.It will become an important node connecting surrounding public spacesas the site transforms from private residences to a public domain. This shift in identity will prompt the design to respond proactively.

Transience
Over the years of construction, Nantou Ancient Town presents an active state of rapid change——constantly regenerates by temporary and fragmented additions and revisions, reflecting the unique vitality of the urban village. Like an invisible organism, all materials within this domain possess an property of transience and adaptability to the organic changes. When intervenes in such an uncertain context, the design will break free from a stable and enclosed state, but a pursuit of lightness and flexibility in responding to the transient environment. 

Like a veil, the light and semi-translucent metal mesh façade reveals a subtle and hazy beauty, blurring the boundary between the indoor and outdoor. Ambiguity and order, openness and closure, void and solid coexist and complement each other. The outline of the building varies at different timing during a day, these transient changes and possibilities act out in miniature the context of urban village.

In-between space
At the street level, the architectural volume disengages from the outer skin by receding, generously yielding space to the city, and allowing physical and visual continuity between east and west. Within the gap between the mass volume and the delicate light metal skin, a space that belongs to both the building and the street is created. Such multifacetedspace not only contributes to the urban space but also reflects the diversity of the urban village.

Due to the spatial limitationsof the urban village, the design utilizes the floor area to the greatest extent. Architectural volumes project further outwardson each higher floor, creating a unique physical rhythm and urban gap space.

In terms of structure, the volumes on the east and west sides adopt a frame structural system withinclined columns as supports. Following the overall overhanging logic, the structural framework on the west side is exposed externally, while the support columns on the east side extend into the interior space. The columns in the middle part are concealed within the walls.Different forms of space are thus being created, embodying a sense of lightweight structural aesthetics.

Vertical Promenade
A stair passage is created between the volumes and mesh skin, which becomes a vertical street meandering through the building and give access to galleries and roof terrace, penetrating the public realm into the perimeter of the building and even the roof. It offers visitors with various views to the Nantou Ancient Town at different levels and perspectives. When observed from the city, the moving figures strolling behind the hazy façade also give the building a active and dynamic nature.

As one of important protection and utilization projects in Shenzhen Nantou Ancient Town, the design gracefully connects the old and new, contemporary and historical, public and privateaspects of Nantou Ancient Town. Meanwhile, it reconstructs the public open spaces and continuously integrates into the organic growth and change of the surrounding environment, bringing a more diverse and vibrant spatial experience to Nantou.

Team:
Client: Bureau of Public Works of Shenzhen Municipality Nanshan District
Contractor: Shenzhen Vanke Development Ltd.
Project planning & design management: Urban Research Institute of China Vanke, vaLue Design
Principal architect: Hua Li / TAO (Trace Architecture Office)
Design team: HUA Li, XU Ting, ZHANG Zhengyuan, LI Ruoxin, ZHANG Jingyi, XIE Yicheng, WANG Zhe
Curation design: Diameter Narrative Design
Structural & MEP design: Bowan Architecture   
Photographers: CHEN Hao, TAL, HUA Li, MEI Kejia