Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects

Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Exterior Photography, Forest, GardenYitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Interior Photography, Facade, Garden, CourtyardYitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Exterior Photography, Facade, GardenYitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Interior Photography, Table, Chair, WindowsYitingting Cottage / genarchitects - More Images+ 21

Hangzhou, China
  • Design Team: Haohui Xian, Shiyu Wang, Jia Qian, Xi Chen, Ao Tao, Lanruo Li, Zhenghao Guo, Fanlang Huang, Mojun Li, Tianyu Yang, Biru Cao
  • Structural Design: Zhun Zhang
  • The Client: Fengyuzhu Exhibition
  • City: Hangzhou
  • Country: China
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Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Exterior Photography, Garden, Courtyard
Inner garden. Image © Hao Chen

Text description provided by the architects. Yitingting Cottage is located in Tonglu, Zhejiang. Started in 2019, this building functions as an individual drawing room and a dining room for a rural complex. Originally on the site was a two-story folk house made of rammed earth. According to the site conditions, the newly built cannot go beyond the original footprint and height. That means the new building can only be the size of a normal living room. Blocked on all sides, it has little access to scenery, with not too much design potential. Given such a small space, what else can we think of? Village style? Structural expression? Façade mannerism? Furniture selection? It took us some time to realize that it is the wall of the courtyard that is the real boundary of our feelings. We do not merely make the room facing the courtyard, but tried to bring the garden inside as part of the drawing-room.

Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Exterior Photography, Forest, Garden
A corner of inner garden. Image © Hao Chen
Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Image 22 of 26
Structure and envelope

At the ground floor, the building itself is weakened; all things were treated as equal elements: staircase, washroom, dumbwaiter, basin, furniture, plants, soil … and even the flooring and doors. We studied the placement of these components and made them scattered while holistic. It was a piecemeal feeling. Sliding doors at the front can be all opened, leaving only a screen layer whenever needed. Due to the limited width of the screen production (i.e. the production size of the screen is smaller than the glazing), two screens were combined with a slightly curved reed-like metal bar as the partition.

Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Interior Photography, Facade, Garden, Courtyard
Entrance on the first floor and stairs leading to the second floor. Image Courtesy of genarchitects

Stepping up to the second floor, people are immediately hugged by an identified form in dim light. When dining, only the table itself is illuminated. A portion of the bamboo grove was cropped out by the window frame, with no beginning or end, taking on an abstract look.

Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Image 23 of 26
Sectional detail

The structure of the second floor is lantern-like. This secondary structure of battens is circled and fixed on the central wooden keels. The keels are then fastened onto the concrete structure at the top and bottom. insulation material and sound-absorbing cotton are installed in the middle.

Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Interior Photography, Table, Chair
Second floor interior. Image © Hao Chen
Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Interior Photography
Dining room on the second floor facing a bamboo groove. Image Courtesy of genarchitects

On the ground level, there are two courtyards, the outer one & the inner one. The outer bright one contains a twisted route with saturated plants towards the gate of the pavilion. The inner shadowy one is a tranquil place at the back. The lounge is surrounded by plants, which are controlled with similar sizes together with other architectural objects. These all, on the ground floor, become a uniform entity.

Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Exterior Photography, Garden, Courtyard
Looking to the inner garden from the drawing room on the first floor. Image © Hao Chen
Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Interior Photography, Table, Chair, Windows
Looking to the bamboo groove from the drawing room on the first floor. Image © Hao Chen

It is our intention to create two distinct atmospheres in the building, which probably stems from a paranoid image – At the end of a secluded courtyard, there is a “one-story building”, and people outside cannot see what is happening inside the fence. Although this building stands tall, it does not gaze around.

Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects - Exterior Photography, Facade, Garden
Entrance on the first floor. Image © Hao Chen

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Project location

Address:Tonglu, Zhejiang, China

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects" 16 Jun 2021. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/963418/yitingting-cottage-genarchitects> ISSN 0719-8884

Outer garden. Image © Hao Chen

一庭亭 / 亘建筑事务所

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