Contemporary Meets Classical

Traditional Chinese courtyard house gets a makeover to fit this family’s lifestyle needs

- Michele Koh Morollo

Architects Han Wenqiang and Li Xiaoming of Beijing-based architecture and interior design firm Archstudio have transformed a simple, traditional Chinese village house into a single-level, 576 sqm, modern, minimalist family vacation home. Located on the outskirts of Beijing, the house is one of the many typical northern Chinese-style courtyard houses found in a village.

The clients, who live in Beijing, had purchased the property, then engaged Han and Li to turn it into a holiday residence where they can entertain friends. The architects and their clients agreed that the remodel should have a vernacular that marries the old with the new, and that also connects the house to the built landscape of the village within which it’s located.

“The goal was to let the renovated architecture integrate into the village with a low-profile gesture, while at the same time creating a rich and natural small world within the house,” says Han.

old and new in harmony

A traditional Chinese courtyard house typically follows a simple layout of three or four wings set around a central courtyard. This particular property originally consisted of two courtyards, north and south buildings with pitch roofs, and a flat roof volume. Archstudio reconfigured the original layout, removed the flat roof volume, and added a new roof structure, which transformed the central courtyard into a sheltered indoor space.

A living room, kitchen, dining, tearoom, and a corridor that leads to the bedrooms is contained within this new interior space. A master bedroom and two guest rooms were located in the back section of the house in the north building. Unroofed sections were interspaced between the social and private areas to serve as small, landscaped yards.