RICHAUS is a small mixed-use building located in the dense urban fabric of Chongqing. Rather than creating a closed commercial object, the project explores how a compact building can act as an open and social fragment of the city.

The design is organized around a staircase that runs through three levels of the building. More than a circulation element, the stair acts as a shared spatial device that encourages movement, encounters and visual connections. In a mountainous city like Chongqing—where daily life constantly unfolds through slopes, steps and vertical movement—the stair becomes a spatial response to the local topography and urban rhythm.

Programs such as offices, cafés, exhibitions and small retail spaces are arranged along this vertical route. As people move up and down, the building gradually produces a sequence of informal interactions and everyday activities. In this sense, the project is less about a singular architectural gesture and more about creating a framework where different uses and communities can coexist.

Since completion, the spaces were quickly occupied by commercial tenants and creative studios. Through daily use, the building continues to evolve and slowly integrates itself into the surrounding neighborhood.

RICHAUS therefore operates not only as architecture, but as a small urban condenser—an environment where work, leisure and public life intersect within a compact vertical structure.