The project is located in the center of Haiyan Town, Zhejiang Province, a representative small town in the Yangtze River Delta. Two buildings of a former granary built in the 1980s are preserved and transformed into a “living hall” for the city. Its main functions include a folk culture exhibition, an urban and rural construction exhibition, and a multi-functional hall.

The origin of nostalgic memory The granary by the Caohe River is a symbol of nostalgic memory of the town. Therefore, preservation and reconstruction were the leading design principles. The transformation of space and functional planning all revolve around the elements and themes of nostalgic memory.

The character of the existing granary and its facilities are retained to the greatest extent, while the new multi-functional hall is used to expand the theme exhibition and evoke connotations of a granary. More places of memory are created, such as the local folk culture exhibition hall of Pavilion 1, the urban and rural construction exhibition hall of Pavilion 2, and extended to the outdoor venues to display the cultural memory of a water-town.

Communication Node in Flowing Space Before the transformation, the granary was a closed place in the central area of the town. In order to create a dynamic urban node, the whole space was reconstructed into a series of micro-spaces according to Space Syntax. They now support programs and informal activities for people of all ages, and are connected by a continuous, surface-painted link.