Atelier GOM 上海高目建筑设计咨询有限公司

Baisha Old Town Retreat

Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang
Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang

BAISHA OLD TOWN RETREAT

Atelier GOM, Atelier8

ARCHITECTS
Atelier GOM, Atelier8

LOCATION
Dali, China

YEAR
2017

CATEGORY
Cabins & Lodges

AREA
480 m²

PHOTOGRAPHS
Jiajing Zhang

DESIGN TEAM
Jorge Gonzalez, Dai Chenjun, Zhao Qing

Text description provided by architect.

Baisha Old town in Yunnan province is a small village part of Lijiang well known for its Jade Dragon Snow Mountain range. It is still the most legit old town in Lijiang.The typical wood and mud brick houses welcome the visitor to discover the ancient life of the village.

Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang
Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang
Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang

Our project site contains a typical courtyard structure from the past which unfortunately never reached its fate. This failure made us think in a different ways of developing the potential interest of tourism.

Our project searches the limit of the urban fabric. We think of an extension of the alleys through the town where the social life is allocated. We intend to create a little town within the town.

Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang
Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang
Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang

The project is considered from the existing urbanism but without a mere intention of repeating the old codes.

It will add new value to the existing urban pattern. Creating the high density we would face the privacy and relationship with the surroundings.

These two inputs would eventually configure the project. Our interest to explore these imaginary lines between private and public led to a configuration of single units scattered on the site creating a ramification of the town planning.The project is considered from the existing urbanism but without a mere intention of repeating the old codes.

Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang
Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang
Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang

It will add new value to the existing urban pattern. Creating the high density we would face the privacy and relationship with the surroundings. These two inputs would eventually configure the project.

These units are settled on a grid creating series of rows and each unit will rotate to create different situation on ground floor and open to the view.The existing trees determined also the position of the units. These accurate movements create a controlled random‐like disposition.

Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang
Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang
Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang

The goal was to give as much privacy on the ground floor as possible extending the inner space towards the exterior while achieving unique views of the surrounding landscape for each cabin.

The architects soon realize the construction must follow some local technique but still wanted to explore the limits of it.Local crew immediately advice of the pitched roof but due to the square dimension of the rational structure the roof is shaped only one direction. It is the closeness of the units which would protect from the wind and rain.

Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang
Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang

The entire structure is local pine wood with a 4m square side.First floor is comprised allowing the section to expand later, however the floor is opened for natural light come through and break the horizontal boundary.

Two sides of the square are closed with local black brick on the first floor pushing the interior space outside and stopped by the next door unit wall brick.

Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang
Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang
Baisha Old Town Retreat
© Jiajing Zhang

A concrete‐wood mixed stair, in situ concrete table and iron fireplace complete the set of fixture inside the open plan. Upstairs, the fireplace pipe, the stairs handrail and the mattress configure the layout.


Baisha Old Town Retreat
First Floor Plan
Baisha Old Town Retreat
Site Plan
Baisha Old Town Retreat
Second Floor Plan


Baisha Old Town Retreat
Axonometric

Baisha Old Town Retreat
Axonometric

Baisha Old Town Retreat
Axonometric

Baisha Old Town Retreat
Isometric Section


Baisha Old Town Retreat
Location Plan

Atelier GOM 上海高目建筑设计咨询有限公司
T +86 21 64368488
Atelier GOM 上海高目建筑设计咨询有限公司
1399 Huashan Rd, Changning District, Shanghai, China, 200031 上海市长宁区华山路1399号