The Well House on Terrance
The Well House on Terrance
ATLAS STUDIO
ARCHITECTS
Atlas Studio
DESIGN TEAM
Jenny Chou , Yihsuan Lin, Bruce Park, Hongcheng Yin, Xinru Liu
LOCATION
Qiandongnan Miao And Dong Autonomous Prefecture, China
AREA
1028 M²
YEAR
2023
CATEGORY
Houses
With a maximum height difference of about 3 meters, the rice terrace has 3 level steps surrounded by luxuriant natural scenery, where a quiet bamboo forest to the southeast and a woodland to the northwest, while a winding country road splits into two and branches up and down, one continues to the northeast, up to the hill of villager’s orchards and rice fields, and the other descends gradually and merges into the main road of the village.
Located at the tail of the village, pedestrians can only reach it by passing through the wooden covered bridge, which is physically distanced from the settlement of the villagers' houses, and exactly sandwiches between the woodland and bamboo forest.
The Well House on the Terrance focused on how to absorb the impression of the surrounding agricultural landscape and transplant it into a modern living experience.
Specifically, it means to bring the experience of the rice terrace into the interior guestrooms.
The floor plan of the guestroom is set up on 3 different levels, starting from the entrance and descending from the seating area to the resting platform and towards the balcony.
In the upper suite guestroom, this terrace platform design technique continues to extend vertically, developing into an upper and lower spatial form.
The Chinese fir interior is consistent with the main wood structure. The actual area of each room is used to measure the functional modules that fit it.
The structure and furniture are united to anchor the space with a warm and relaxed atmosphere and the integrated design further deepens the landscape experience of the terrace.
To achieve fluidity in the interior space, the rooms eliminate physical partitions. The additional corner windows and skylights bring more natural light into the room.
All the methods were suggested to guide the beneficial influence of the natural ecology system into space in different ways.
The architect hopes to find a balanced architectural vocabulary echoing the traditions.
The inheritable transformation uses of the granaries, the rice drying rack, the wooden covered bridge, and the fire pit were revealed in the reference to the architectural prototype of the new building, which surpasses the collective narration of the ancient fable.
The northwest facade of the building echoes the style of the granary. The raw log boards, give the building a modest appearance.
The carbonized strips enhance the horizontal rhythmic order of the facade. On the southeast facade, two groups of grain racks organize a horizontal order of approximately 15 meters in length and are connected to an elevated platform over the rice terraces.
The wooden covered bridge prototype is used on the cantilevered platform on the first floor of the lobby to provide people with sitting or lying down as a public space open to the outside.
The lobby organizes four functional modules around the atrium space of the reception, The indoor staircase leading from the first floor to the second floor is hidden behind the bluestone wall of the reception area, which cuts the building in two.
Entering from the side of the gift shop on the second floor, one can clearly feel the hierarchical changes in the wooden structure space, from small to large, from far to deep.
Due to the use of different partition and light filtering materials, the space has a multi-dimensional physical and mental experience.
The atrium allows light from three directions and also obtains a visually continuous landscape. The building is completely integrated into the surrounding environment.
Through the layers of light and shadow, the space shows the same rich sense of depth, giving people a sense where the body and consciousness, nature and artificiality, and reality are difficult to distinguish.
