ABODE / CONTEMPORISING THE

WORDS

PRAISE POH

PHOTOGRAPHY

WANG NING, WU QINGSHAN

CONTEMPORISING THE TRADITIONAL

ONCE AN ABANDONED SIHEYUAN IN BEIJING, QISHE COURTYARD IS NOW RESTORED INTO A CONTEMPORARY LIVING SPACE WITH CURVED WALLS AND SLEEK ROOMS WHILE RETAINING ITS UNIQUE, TIME-HONOURED FEATURES.

1 2

1. The entrance was shifted to the east and the walls of the daozuo fang were removed to make space for a garage.

2. The front courtyard retained many of its historical elements, such as the traditional grey bricks and arched door opening.

Restoring an old building is not an easy task, much less an iconic siheyuan.

Located in the old city of Beijing, this project is named Qishe (literally meaning “seven houses” in Chinese), because it originally consisted of seven pitched-roof houses and is also the seventh unit in the hutong (the narrow lane between siheyuan).

Han Wenqiang, founder and chief architect of Beijing-based design studio ARCHSTUDIO, was tasked with the responsibility and he started by deciding what to retain and remove.

Parts of the roof and walls that were severely damaged had to be demolished. Wooden structural beams that were wellpreserved were left in situ.

Iconic elements such as the carvings on arched door openings and traditional gateway at the entrance were kept.

Leftover old bricks, found inside the courtyard, were used to repair the damaged exterior wall.

“After all the reinforcement work was done, we assessed and tested the bearing capacity of the structure,” Han says.

COMPLETE CONNECTIVITY

The original siheyuan consisted of three courtyards.

The front courtyard is small, featuring a row of daozuo fang (rooms that are located in the south of the siheyuan and face the north direction) and the gateway.

Traditionally, daozuo fang served as a

ABOVE.

The walls between the front and middle courtyards were dismantled and replaced by a transparent veranda to create a continuous flow between the three courtyards.

form of accommodation for male servants and gatekeepers as they are the least desirable spot in the entire siheyuan.

However, as these were no longer relevant in our modern times, the team decided to utilise that space for a more immediate need — a garage.

The entrance gateway was shifted to the east and the walls of the daozuo fang were removed.

The original pillars were also replaced with steel structural beams to support the pitched roof, and a spacious car park was born.

In addition, the wall between the front and middle courtyards was dismantled and replaced by a transparent veranda.

Han explains that the original siheyuan had too many partition walls, resulting in many small, cramped spaces and limited

natural lighting in the rooms.

These were removed to create a continuous flow between the three courtyards.

“The veranda acts as a connector between the three separate courtyards, optimising functional indoor space, natural lighting and scenic views,” explains Han.

It adopts a frame structure of ribbed beams to better blend in with the old construction. Variations in appearance were also made, according to the different landscapes and spatial functions.

For example, the roof of the veranda at the entrance curves slightly upwards to form a rounded arc with the curved edges of the pitched roofs at both sides, creating an interesting view of the ancient tree in the back courtyard against the sky.

Amenities such as bathrooms, a kitchen and equipment room were added to the newly

QISHE COURTYARD

LOCATION

Beijing China /

COMPLETION

2020 /

SITE AREA

500m 2 /

ARCHITECT

ARCHSTUDIO /

LEAD ARCHITECT

Han Wenqiang /

C&S CONSULTANT

Bamboo Era

5

3-4. The veranda adopts a frame structure of ribbed beams to better blend in with the older construction, varying in appearance to suit the different spatial functions.

5. The dining room located in the middle courtyard is adjacent to the western kitchen, which can be converted into an open kitchendining space.

3

4

restored space, as well as modern features like air-conditioners and HVAC piping to complete its modernisation.

To emphasise the sense of formality in a traditional siheyuan, the team adopted a symmetric layout for the place.

They also replaced the old elevated steps that led to the rooms with gentle slopes, and coupled with the transparent veranda, these enhanced the connectivity between the indoor spaces and the open courtyards.

The middle courtyard is designed to be a common area equipped with a living room, dining room and kitchen, while the back courtyard is designated for private spaces – mainly two bedrooms, a tea room and study.

The dining room features a folding door, which can be fully opened to extend indoor activities to the outdoor courtyard.

The middle of the dining room’s back wall has an arched door, which has been carefully restored and now serves as the entrance to the back courtyard.

The kitchen is divided into a semi-open

FLOOR PLAN

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Hutong Street Main entrance Garage entrance Garage Front courtyard 6. Reception room 7. Equipment room 8. Toilet 9. Servoce room 10. Original gate 11. Lobby 12. Living room 13. Tea room 14. Corridor 15. Middle courtyard 16. Bamboo courtyard 17. Storehouse 18. Rest area 19. Dining room 20.Western kitchen 21. Chinese kitchen 22. Study room 23. Back courtyard 24.Master bedroom 25. Second bedroom

HAN WENQIANG,

FOUNDER, ARCHSTUDIO

western kitchen area, a closed Chinese kitchen and a storage room.

The western kitchen is adjacent to the dining room and can double up as an open kitchen counter to fulfil a variety of entertainment possibilities.

CELEBRATING THE OLD AND NEW

Besides using traditional building materials such as wood and grey bricks, the team also introduced other interesting materials.

Glass bricks were used to construct the toilet walls for privacy and natural light. Their similarity in shape and size to the existing grey bricks offers an interesting connection and contrast.

High-performance, bamboo-based, fibrecomposite material is heavily used. Besides lining the bedrooms’ flooring, Han also applied it on the supporting beams underneath the veranda’s roof, as the material has an interesting texture and brown hue that matches the existing wooden columns.

He elaborates, “We use the material to support the veranda. The designing, processing and lofting processes proved to be very challenging as the supporting structures are not of regular shapes.

“In addition, it is a new material and at present, there is no well-defined structural design codes in China. Hence, the design team and the construction team worked closely together to ensure that the overall structure is as thin and light as possible, and in harmony with the old building.

6

6. The back courtyard consists of two bedrooms, a tea room and study.

The undulating veranda floor plan was designed to accommodate three existing trees.

7. A neutral palette was used for the bedrooms and light fixtures were concealed in the roof structure to avoid exposed light bulbs, keeping the atmosphere cosy.

“As there may be slight differences in measurements between the drawings and existing construction, we could not prefabricate the structural beams in the factory and had to process and manufacture them on site.

“Lofting was done to create wooden models of the main curved beams of the veranda in a 1: 1 ratio for comparison on site. The craftsmen then proceed to process the bamboo-based, fibre-composite material based on the models, resulting in a much longer construction cycle.

“Furthermore, we had to be on site during each new phase to inspect and check things like the alignment to ensure the desired design effect.”

As traditional roofs are not installed with any waterproofing membrane, they are prone to develop leaks over time. Moreover, they also have poor thermal insulation performance.

Therefore, one major improvement the team did was to add insulation and waterproofing layers underneath the original grey tiled rooftops.

For Han and the team, the best way to “preserve” an old building is to make it “useable”.

“Many old buildings were being restored

7

as an attraction, and as such, they lost the living element.

“We hope to include this usability in our restoration of Qishe to enrich the lives of those using this space.

“Of course, we also need to adhere to certain restoration principles, such as incorporating the traces of time into the overall design,” Han concludes.