The project is located in an ordinary village in the northern mountainous area of Beijing. The village where the site locates is on one side of a highway, with open field of river bank on the other side and long stretch of mountains in the distance. The village paths perpendicular to the highway varies in length, depending on the distance between the mountain and the highway; the project locates at the end of a shorter path, at the foot of a mountain full of chestnut trees.

▼项目概览 project preview ©孙海霆

The original state of the project is a traditional three-section type of courtyard (sanheyuan). Throughout years of developments in the village, residential buildings in the area is a collection of different building types: there are uninhabited old houses more than 100 years old, in collapsing status; there are newly built two-story buildings with bright white tiles, which look bold and dominant. For our project, the existing buildings in the courtyard have wooden structure and grey roof tiles. There is a north-west five bays main house, and a flat roof north-east side room. It is a typical courtyard demonstrating the construction state of Beijing mountain village houses in the 1970s and 1980s.

What’s special about the courtyard is that the side room has its back against the mountain. During our first site visit, we thought why don’t we replace this side room, which has less historical value, with a two-storey building that will has its back against the mountain and views towards the mountains in the distance. The two storey building will also become the focus of the courtyard, turning the mountain behind it into the main backdrop.

The five bays main house is reorganized into three guest rooms; its walls, wooden structure and tile roof are reserved. Its external doors and windows are renovated in combination with the courtyard landscape design.

▼场地原貌 existing site photos ©OEO