MAT Office MAT超级建筑事务所

Folding Roof Courtyard House

Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio

Folding Roof Courtyard House 

MAT Office

ARCHITECTS
Mat Office

YEAR
2021

LOCATION
Miyun District, China

DESIGN TEAM
Kangshuo Tang, Miao Zhang, Youpeng Liu, Xiaodan Tan, Yating Wei(Drawing)

AREA
180 M²

PHOTOGRAPHS
Uk Studio

CATEGORY
Houses

The project is located in Xishaoqu Village, Miyun District, Beijing. In this large village which is surrounded by mountains on three sides, most of the existing houses are traditional northern farmhouses.

Folding Roof Courtyard House
Courtesy of MAT Office
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio

The owner of the project hopes to cooperate with the village to revitalize the vacant courtyards as a leisure place and weekend homestay, with the operation services provided by the villagers.

Folding Roof Courtyard is one of these courtyards, which is planned as a public function, such as reception and workshop, due to its good site conditions.

Folding Roof Courtyard House
Courtesy of MAT Office
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio

The courtyard had been rebuilt before, and at the time we got the design commission, the main concrete frame structure and part of the roof had been completed.

The building covers an area of about 180 square meters and consists of a main house and a wing house, the two houses are the same height of the double-pitched roof with an axis of east-west, but the depth of the wing is larger than the main house, and express an inappropriate proportion.

Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
Courtesy of MAT Office
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio

Based on the original concrete structure, we redefined the primary and secondary order and architectural form of the building through this continuously folded roof.

The main house was partially raised, while the roof of the wing house was changed from two to four.

The continuous roof brings north-south high windows to the interior space.

Folding Roof Courtyard House
Courtesy of MAT Office
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio

View from the outside village, the high windows on the south side define the properties of the building's public service function and can be well identified at night; From the interior of the building, two high windows on the north and south sides bring high ceilings and bright light to the workshop space in the wing.

MATERIAL USE

The design uses schist as the building exterior wall as well as landscape material of the Folding Roof Courtyard, combined with the rough stone wall of earthen masonry, so that the building and environment are integrated, in order to continue the original rugged and powerful architectural character of the mountainous countryside in northern China.

Folding Roof Courtyard House
Courtesy of MAT Office
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio

The entrance to the courtyard is an enlarged canopy, which is poured in one go with concrete from small pieces of wood formwork, which adds a sense of brutality and echoes the gray-white fence commonly used in the village.

SPATIAL ARRANGEMENT

The new roof was designed with steel beams on the original concrete frame and with wooden purlins and lookout panels above. The mix of structures and traditional roof practices were easy to understand in construction and familiar to the village's craftsmen.

Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio

The single slope and reverse slope space generated by the continuous folding roof bring different internal space experiences to the building, and the beams and columns of the original structure form a rational structural logic together with the slope roofs above it; The sloped roof forms a pitched house type from the exterior, but is reversed internally into an inverted reverse slope space.

In addition, this sort of line + surface combination also strengthens the architectural abstraction of the space because of its contingency, absence of presuppositions, and asymmetric characteristics.

Folding Roof Courtyard House
Courtesy of MAT Office
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio

WINDOW TYPOLOGY

Compared with other residential courtyards, the Folding Roof Courtyard is mainly used as a public activity, so the use of windows is greatly increased in the design to enhance the interaction and space penetration inside and outside of the building. We designed four types of windows in the building.

Large high windows under the sloping roof of the north and south facades, floor-to-ceiling windows facing the yard, long windows with views and ventilation, and small square windows with high lighting.

Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
Courtesy of MAT Office

This multi-style, multi-directional window opening method allows all parts of the building could enjoy the woods up close and the mountains far away.

When designing for rural environments outside the city, we want to be able to complete a process of transformation –contemporary architectural vocabulary and construction systems, in combining with traditional materials, in order to balance the consumer demand, the rural environment, and architectural form.

Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio

At the same time, the project adjusted the architectural form by placing a continuous folding roof, transforming the original two separate houses in the courtyard into an interconnected group of buildings, resulting in a dry, powerful group form with the characteristics of northern mountain villages;

And according to this set of spatial operations, a system of a series of windows for lighting and viewing in the building is established, as well as a special spatial experience under the roof with a group of reversed slopes.

Folding Roof Courtyard House
Courtesy of MAT Office


Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
Courtesy of MAT Office
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio


Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio
Folding Roof Courtyard House
© UK Studio


Folding Roof Courtyard House
Courtesy of MAT Office


Folding Roof Courtyard House
Plan
Folding Roof Courtyard House
RF Plan


Folding Roof Courtyard House
Workshop Section
Folding Roof Courtyard House
Atrium Section
Folding Roof Courtyard House
Section
Folding Roof Courtyard House
Elevation


Folding Roof Courtyard House
Window Diagram
Folding Roof Courtyard House
Comparison Diagram
Folding Roof Courtyard House
Wall Details
Folding Roof Courtyard House
Location

MAT Office MAT超级建筑事务所
T +86 184 11008920
MAT Office MAT超级建筑事务所
Room C 1401, No.46, Fangjiahutong, Beijing, China 北京市东城区方家胡同46号院C楼1401-1407