The site is located in Taxia village on Southern China, Fujian Province, known for the name of ‘Taiji riverside village’. KejiaTulou is a building typology appears in Ming Qing dynasty and Republic of China period (1912-1949). Houses were built next to the river and spread along the valley. Three houses that were built in Qing dynasty and early 20th century, occupies 3702.85m2 floor area will be renovated to hotel. The site, covered by Bamboos, pine trees and flowing stream, which separates the site to two parts, illustrates a pastoral scenario filled with human life and nature.

The renovation project tends to keep the village's originality and surrounding landscape. Inherited building typology, site specification and traditional construction techniques are retained to integrate the architectural, food and health cultivation culture. In terms of the cultural value, new functions, furniture and art installation are carefully embedded to coordinate traditional and modern life.

The landscape design retained the original building context to restore the vernacular atmosphere.Redundant partition walls are removed and the rotten wood structure is replaced. By recovering its originality, the building reinterprets the specific building typology and its past.

The spatial arrangement follows the building structure where new functions are inserted in between. Interior space is enlarged by bringing exterior aisle and both interior partition wall and ceiling are removed for transparency. The design strategy retains original timber structure as a cultural respect and transforms traditional space to fit into modern life as well.

The renovation scheme is not merely a reinterpretation of the past. The site consists both memory and present existence. By retaining and integrating the tradition atmosphere through village context, the reconstructed space reinterprets its tension of memory and adaptation to contemporary lifestyle.

Material Used :

Timber, Steel, Reinforce concrete Structure