Xiangyang Reception Center

Xiangyang Reception Center
© Qingshan Wu

XIANGYANG RECEPTION CENTER

Yeas

ARCHITECTS
Yeas

ENGINEERING
Shanghai Yuangui Structural Des. Firm Inc

DESIGN TEAM
Danfeng Li, Jianjia Zhou, Fangda Nie, Wanlin Li, Zhifan Ye, Ting Gu (Intern)

CLIENT
Shanghai Tingwan Inc.

PHOTOGRAPHS
Qingshan Wu

AREA
188 m²

YEAR
2019

LOCATION
Shanghai, China

CATEGORY
Community Center

Text description provided by architect.

Xiangyang Village is a universal name that bears a sense of time in China, and there is more than one Xiangyang Village in Shanghai. The village locates at the border of Shanghai, adjacent to Kunshan, Jiangsu Province.

Xiangyang Reception Center
© Qingshan Wu
Xiangyang Reception Center
© Qingshan Wu

The different development patterns resulted in contrasting scenes in two terrains: the Xiangyang Village has wide-open farmland. Kunshan, just one street away, has many high-rises overlooking the village in Shanghai, predominantly agricultural.

As one of the first nine model villages for rural revitalization in Shanghai, Xiangyang proposed new industrial upgrading and social governance ideas.

Xiangyang Reception Center
© Qingshan Wu
Xiangyang Reception Center
© Qingshan Wu

The broader context of its development is still the village in Shanghai, which is different from rural imagery but also preserves the countryside landscape, which requires a balance between urban and rural, traditional and contemporary.

In the spring of 2018, YEAS was invited to design a reception center for Xiangyang Village, small and simple in the program.

Xiangyang Reception Center
© Qingshan Wu
Xiangyang Reception Center
© Qingshan Wu
Xiangyang Reception Center
© Qingshan Wu

The orchard where the site locates and the wilderness scenery in the village became a primary consideration. The façade is designated to be as open as possible, inviting the environment to permeate the interior.

It influences the structural decision: the usual thick columns were broken up into column lines with a narrow section, forming the periphery, which was also used as door and window frames.

It achieves a spatial effect with no disruption of structure, ensuring the continuity of the landscape. The most expressive part is the continuous folded roofs, echoing the local roofing practices.

Xiangyang Reception Center
Courtesy of YEAS
Xiangyang Reception Center
Courtesy of YEAS

In a rural construction project, the professionalism of the builders is an uncertain factor.

In collaboration with structural engineers, a steel structure was deployed that could be prefabricated in the factory then assembled on-site, minimizing the wet work and the impact on the environment and daily lives.

The well-developed production method compensates for the professionalism uncertainty, and three to five builders can erect the building by components.

Xiangyang Reception Center
Courtesy of YEAS
Xiangyang Reception Center
Courtesy of YEAS

Thus, such a light building responds to the construction under the interaction between urban and rural areas.


Xiangyang Reception Center
Courtesy of YEAS
Xiangyang Reception Center
Courtesy of YEAS


Xiangyang Reception Center
Site plan
Xiangyang Reception Center
Plan


Xiangyang Reception Center
Courtesy of YEAS
Xiangyang Reception Center
Courtesy of YEAS
Xiangyang Reception Center
Courtesy of YEAS
Xiangyang Reception Center
Perspective section