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Nantou Hybrid Building: the vibrant mix of traditional and modern materials mirrors the genuine essence of the building

URBANUS Architecture & Design / MENG Yan

Renovation  /  Completed
URBANUS Architecture & Design / MENG Yan

The Nantou Hybrid Building is a cluster of five individual residential buildings constructed in different periods, showcasing diverse palettes of materials, structure and style. Before the renovation, the five buildings had their separate circulation system, the adaptive reuse design preserves the traces of additions and transformations in both the interior and exterior. The existing façade was retained, while removing interior partitions and replacing the haphazard additions that pose a structural risk, creating a central void to accommodate a new circulation core and connect the spaces of each building at different heights to facilitate social interactions, while providing a flexible layout for adaptability.

The street level of the five buildings was packed with shops and stalls before the renovation, offering a variety of programs and activities to the surrounding public space, and adding to the vibrant urban village lifestyle. The renovation upholds the compact and vibrant ground floor layout, enhancing it with additional semi-outdoor spaces. With independent entrances on each perimeter, a preexisting outdoor staircase next to Baode Square has been adapted to allow for direct access to the second floor after renovation. The previously separated rooftops are arranged into one single tranquil garden. A dynamic tension exudes from the street-level shops to the rooftop terrace, leads to an oasis amidst the hustle and bustle of the urban village, unfolding a mini “Vertical Arcadia”.

The design carefully preserves the existing facade to keep the structure and mark the boundaries of the property of the three owners, while removing interior partition walls and opening up passageway.

The design preserves the existing facade's myriad materials, with selective replacement or supplementation of mosaics and colored paint. The colorful collage of old and new materials, along with the intricate interlocking, reflecting the authentic essence of Nantou Hybrid Building.

Communal spaces on each level extend outward from the core, puncturing through the facade to create red-iron steel versatile plug-ins that serve as doorways, canopies, balconies, footbridges, and staircases. It grants a remarkable journey as if navigating through the crevices between the buildings.

Nantou Old Town is a quintessential example of Shenzhen’s urban and cultural heritage spanning various periods. We developed a regeneration strategy that impacts larger clusters with micro-scale interventions and cultural events, then started preserving and revitalizing through integrating spatial renovation with the exhibition, and introduced the 2017 Shenzhen-Hong Kong UABB here. The Nantou Old Town Preservation and Regeneration project was awarded as THE PLAN AWARD Special Projects Winner in 2020.

Under the concept of “Urban Coexistence”, Nantou Hybrid Building preserves the complexity, contradiction and conflicts of the existing buildings. Trace of additions, transformations, and replacement of materials, has been retained in the repoussé and chasing of both the interior and exterior.

The renovation upholds the compact and vibrant characteristics, the internal circulation is rearranged by means of taking advantage of preexisting apertures, opening up passageway, and creating corridors. The spaces between the buildings, along with the addition of skylights introduced natural light to the ground floor, significantly enhanced the indoor environment and atmosphere. Two new volumes, one rectangular and one curvilinear, one solid and one void, are juxtaposed on the rooftop, with a small roof garden hidden within. The formed “enclosed circulation” connects interior and exterior at different heights to facilitate social interactions while providing flexible layout for adaptability.

This project stands as a testament to the evolving history of Shenzhen's urban villages. The renovation has reorganized chaos into coherence, creating an open, micro-complex in a densely populated community. It introduces a novel typology of vertical communal space, paving the way for future urban village developments. In the face of extensive urban construction, enhancing and optimizing original genealogies, structures and environments emerges as a crucial strategy against urban homogenization.

Credits

 Shenzhen
 China
 Public Works Bureau of Nanshan District, Shenzhen
 12/2023
 1090 sq. m
 Confidential
 Meng Yan
 Project General Manager: Yao Xiaowei, Project Architect: Jiang Qingzhou, Zheng Zhi, Zhang Chaoxian, Team: Rao Enchen, Huang Jiahong | Li Guanda (Landscape) | Zhao Siying, Wu Xiaopeng (Internship)

Curriculum

Founded in 1999, URBANUS is recognized as one of the most influential independent architecture practices in China. More than a design practice, URBANUS is also a think tank. It aims at formulating architectural strategy from the urban environment and its ever-changing conditions. URBANUS has always focused on the urban realities in China and seeks architectural solutions based on its research of emerging urban problems.

URBANUS focuses on the contemporary urban phenomena in China to conduct a series of research projects, including typologies for hyper-density, the preservation and regeneration of historical urban areas and urban villages. URBANUS has drawn international recognition due to its sensitivity to urban, historical and social structures, its ability to mobilize and integrate potential spatial and social resources, and its effectiveness in responding to the complexities of the urban environment.

http://www.urbanus.com.cn/proj...

Tag

#Winner #China  #Shenzhen  #Public space  #Stainless steel  #Mosaic  #URBANUS Architecture & Design / MENG Yan 

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