Born out of the masculine Karst landscape of northern China, the project transforms a run-down farmyard into a modern home stay. The site as we found it, was an old farmyard at the top of a village. The lot was blasted, excavated and flattened out of the mountain. Its former inhabitants enveloped it with a tall robust stone wall, inside which sat three separate farm houses.
The objective is two-fold: to internalize natural landscape, and to be a part of landscape. The core intervention, to lower and push out the outer wall, opens up the central courtyard, drawing the mountains in. Pushing and pulling outer boundaries, the design knits man-made structures into the natural landscape.
The project explores a nuanced approach toward the old, enhancing the original structure, through an innovative building method between “dry stone construction” and “dressing”, using locally sourced stones.
Team:
Beijing Zhanlin Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., local masons, local carpenters
Material Used:
1. Facade cladding: Local Limestone, Galvanized Steel
2. Flooring: Microcement
3. Doors: Manchurian Ash
4. Windows: Manchurian Ash
5. Interior furniture: Birch Plywood
