BCK J Architects
BCKJ Architects
Statement
Over the past 16 years, BCKJ has engaged in a diverse range of projects, including urban planning and interiors across China. We understand each project requires a different philosophical approach while maintaining an overarching focus on cultural heritage and social engagement. With an awareness of the ecological impact caused by construction, BCKJ believes that logical consistency can be achieved with the surrounding environment, vegetation and regional structure to imbue harmony and symbiosis with nature. Two of the projects presented in this book illustrate this ethos: the Badaling Forest Experience Centre – one of the first natural exploration centres in China – and the Clove Valley Eco-hotel, which respectfully integrates itself within the surrounding environment by matching the height of the surrounding trees. Besides emphasising the importance of natural relationships and respect to the environment, BCKJ’s projects also try to encourage better communication and social relations amongst their users and wider community . Buildings should provide places to communicate through human or natural elements as well as providing shelter. The two projects completing this book, the Polus International College Students Apartment, and Black Tiger Primary School, demonstrate this interest. The relationship between space and social life has been outlined as a key directive in these and our future projects and research.
BCKJ Architects
Beijing, China
- Dong Mei, Liu Xiaochuan and Shao Wenwei -
Badaling Forest Experience Centre
2014
Thirty-three large trees were on the land before it became a construction site. The building now carefully lies between these trees, allowing them to communicate their natural history through their presence. The Badaling Forest Experience Center is the first of it’s kind in China to tell the story of the forest. The option of an enclosed exhibition space model was abandoned in favour of natural light. This blurs the boundary between the internal and the external and offers the indoor space a background of the natural environment. The external space formed by the building’s extension become a site for environmental education and a place of play. Split levels of the building traces the height of the trees, from the trunk up to the crown. Runoff rainwater is not blocked by the building. The original creek and sewage treatment by artificial wetlands merge into a small pond before the building.
The building is an information centre at the forest entrance. Without cutting down any trees, it was carefully set between the gaps. Photo by Zhang Yong.
Natural light is the main source of lighting; artificial lighting is used to adapt to changes in daylight, especially when the forest changes with the seasons. The exhibition spaces are set against a background of natural scenery.
Trees in the courtyard provide a shading area for activities, including environmental education.
Left: The dark colour of the building matches the trunks and soil, so the buildings can be integrated with the environment.
Above: Large windows allow natural light and views over the surrounding forest from inside the building.
BCKJ Architects
Beijing, China
- Dong Mei, Liu Xiaochuan, Chen Hao, Shao Wenwei, Zhang Ye, et al. -
Clove Valley Eco-hotel
2017
Construction near the Great Wall is often controlled by the National Cultural Heritage Administration, who protect cultural relics of national importance. The entrance of Clove Valley faces the Great Wall and there are a large number of wild Manchurian Lilacs growing in the valley. The scattered layout of the Eco-hotel, hidden in the valley, helps to minimise the visual impact of the building. The height does not exceed the crown of the trees and recessed windows avoid reflective glare – making them difficult to be seen from the Great Wall and protecting birds. To be hidden is a way to show respect to the environment. The lower part of the buildings are elevated to make way for rainwater and to save space for vegetation growth. Large outdoor terraces are placed among the canopies, allowing people to be closer to nature. Lightweight recyclable materials were used to avoid the often use of natural stone extracted from the surrounding mountains. Passive insulation systems suitable for cold winters are installed to reduce energy consumption. Other sustainable technologies include the use of biomass energy, solar energy, natural crossventilation, and artificial wetland wastewater treatment technologies.
Located in a valley close to the Badaling Great Wall near Beijing, almost 40 cottages and five public spaces were built with minimal disturbance to the environment. Photos by Yao Li and Dong Mei
Carefully placed, the buildings lie at the lowest part of the valley, hidden among the mountains. More than half of the guestrooms are only accessible on foot.
Most of the cottages are south-facing with skylights and large windows with views over the Great Wall.
The Eco-hotel project combines traditional oriental philosophy with modern finishings as can be seen in the interior public areas.
The architecture of the hotel adapts to every season, allowing its bedrooms to be fully open and the guests to connect more directly with nature.
BCKJ Architects - Dong Mei, Liu Xiaochuan, Zhang Yang,
Mao County, Sichuan Province, China
Xu Gang and Yan Haisong -
Black Tiger Primary School
2010
This reconstruction project – located in a remote mountainous area – followed the 2008 Whenchuan (or Sichuan) earthquake. The project is located in the Black Tiger village, a cultural monument of the Qiang people where people maintain a traditional lifestyle. The project is defined by the use of local traditional building materials and construction methods which help to build cultural confidence among the locals. The stone crafts, inherited from thousands of years of tradition by the local Qiang minority, is combined with modern and sustainable materials. It has become a window for local cultural exchanges despitethe limited government funding for the project which was significantly lower compared to inner-city developments. It provides a safe environment for the children to learn in. When they grow up in society, they will remember a simple and happy childhood in their native land.
The rough stonework language is the same traditional craftsmanship used for the construction of local houses. Photos by Liu Xiaochuan and Dong Mei.
Above: A traditional home in Black Tiger village. The school evokes the vernacular architecture with a similar language blends with its surrounding buildings.
Left: The school surrounded by farmland. Above: Courtyard and roof terrace are places for breaks between classes and are easily accessible from classrooms.
BCKJ Architects - Dong Mei, Liu Xiaochuan and Zhang Ye -
Polus International College Students Apartment
Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
2014
The Polus International College is a well-known educational facility located on the edge of Chengdu, China, providing vocational training from health and beauty to visual communication. The majority of students come from poor rural areas, with girls accounting for 61% of the student population. The central question for this project was how to accommodate nearly 2,000 students in a 10,000 square meter space. The building optimises the plot combining teaching spaces on the lower floors with sturdent apartments on the top floors. The building uses open corridors and courtyards at different levels that connect the 72 residential units and 19 public spaces. The public spaces are both to learn and socialise in order to foster a sense of community amongst the students, encouraging social interaction and selfdiscipline, which was key part of the brief given to the architects. In addition, a vegetable garden is located on the roof which is managed by the students themselves. A potential decline of student numbers in the future, has been taken in consideration in the design of the apartments which could be adapted into senior living apartments.
Located in a rural village in China, this building uses passive underground air ducts to regulate heat instead of air conditioning systems. Photos by Dong Mei
The building combines traditional bricks for the facade on the lower floors and concrete modules on the top floors which host the student apartments.
The courtyard gardens on the third floor and roof, along with the plants in front of windows, form a three-dimensional green environment, creating adaptable and relaxing places for learning and social interaction.
Shared spaces were set across the building at the intersection and end of the corridors to provide addtional spaces for social exchange.
Plants and bamboo grills are used to give shade and mitigate the heat in the summer.