HGW (House on the Great Wall), a private villa born from a underground storage turned into a 4 bedroom house
The property is located in a mountain area near the Great Wall, north of Beijing.
Originally built in the middle of last century as underground storage for fruit trees for the village, the existing structure is built entirely of natural stone and consists of a rectangular volume of 21x11x4 meters.
The client owns a house on the south side of the property, in an elevated position overlooking the roof of the underground storage. The scope of the design was to extend the existing house by turning the storage into a 4 bedrooms residence.
The existing storage is constructed north facing, partially underground in a basin lower than the surrounding. To create a liveable environment for the new residence, a design solution for these particular conditions was required.
The design strategy focused on three main directions: enhance the identity of the storage and its stone walls, allow as much light as possible to the interior space and preserving the panoramic view from the existing house owned by the client.
The existing natural stone walls are preserved to a large extent and are fully exposed as a strong presence in the house in contrast with the new polished concrete structure and white plastered interior walls. Only in the north side the natural stone wall is replaced by a large glass façade and the soil removed to create a generous terrace in front, which occupies the entire length of the living and dining area in the inside. Also, in the north side, the garage is inset into the building as a wood cladded box.
In the open-plan living area, the custom-made open fireplace and the black kitchen counter set 2 focal points while the wood cladding of the garage provides a warm background to the soft seating area.
The new roof was designed to maximize the natural light input to the house. The existing roof was replaced by two concrete slabs, which are detached from the stone wall and set at two different heights. During the design stage we worked on many different options for the architectural volume of the house and consequently of the roof. The final solution convinced us as it was able to give to the house a modern design different from the neighbour houses yet very integrated with the natural surrounding. The roof in fact looks like two garden platforms floating above each other in perfect balance with the stone wall below as well as with the slope terrain that envelops the plot. The lower northern roof covers the living room and the garage and it is designed as a roof terrace. It is shorter than the existing stone wall length and creates two gardens in the east and in the west of the house. These gardens increase the natural of light from different angles.
The higher roof in the south is shifted to the west to allow a passage to the lower roof terrace and avoid to project shadow to the east courtyard.
The different heights of the roofs are responding to in the terraced degradation of the plot and the surrounding. The gap in between the 2 roofs allows more natural light to penetrate in the central part of the building and it is improving the natural ventilation during the warm seasons.
Below the higher roof in the south part of the new house are located the bedrooms. They enjoy a contemplative feeling thanks to their high ceilings and high-rise windows. Each room has a private bathroom. The bedrooms are connected by a passage which is elevated by three steps to the adjacent living area.
Next to the bedrooms, in the southeast corner, a tunnel connects the new house with to the existing residential building. As the belonging plots are separated by a side road, this passage passes through a tunnel under the road.
As a result, for the view from the terrace of the existing house is enriched by two floating green roofs in balance with the panoramic scene to the Great Wall.
In HGW the architecture and the interior are based on the idea to have few but meaningful interventions to create a space that is essential in decoration but rich in experience.
The previous structure and function are visible and an important part of the design as the intervention should make visible the balance of old and new.
We see architecture as a tension between light and material where the design is a play between voids and solids. The voids are carved out to lead the light in while the solid elements bring materiality to the space.
In the HGW, the design plays with the materiality of the existing stone wall, the concrete roofs and the wooden box that hides the garage. This element are combined with shift of the position of the two roof slabs from the perimeter of the existing wall to create gaps and cavities that allow the light in from multiple points.
The light is in fact a continuous gradient of indirect brilliances coming from all directions and changing from the early morning to the evening.
The big window on the north façade provide a diffuse light in the living room. This light is softened by the reflection of the windows in between the roof: the light is bounces on the white division wall to the bedroom and reaches the living room with a softer intensity. If in the early morning the east courtyard let the sun to penetrate in the living room, in the late afternoon the warm light of the sunset reflects on the stone wall of the yard and bring inside the house a special golden vibrancy.
All the openings located in different location of the house receive different quality of light and contribute constantly like different instruments playing for a symphony.
Walking around the house you have a strong sense of consistency but once you settle down in one specific place, different details and materials emerge from the general environment and become the character that define an intimate zone. Once you move up and walk, all the elements of the house come together again and gives you the feeling of a space that expand and open up to the outdoor.