Designed by LYCS Architecture, this project has a total floor area of 1, 260 square meters, including a 900 square meter courtyard. With the remarkable help of the green lawn, sunlight and elegant white curves, a kind of bright and natural modern living atmosphere is subtly created.
The project is located on the bank of the Grand Canal, a World Heritage Site in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China, just opposite to the famous Taiping Bridge, which has been listed by great British historian Joseph Needham in Science and Civilization in China, and the ancient Daiyue Building on the other bank. Design takes the full integration of the reflections on the urban historical heritage and natural ecology, the design sets up the general principle of natural infiltration and flowing softness, pushing the design concept to its extreme from two dimensions of modernity and ecology respectively.
Designed with nature as the boundary, the courtyard wraps around the building, contributing to a private and tranquil world of its own in the modern loud “concrete jungle”. With the modeling language inspired by the egrets flying through the canal, the design deliberately outlines the building with white curves and cascading eaves. Seen from the air, this project looks like a kind of white ripple, spreading from the land and integrating with the ripples in the water. Project layout plan unfolds itself around the private south-facing green space, different family spaces for living, dining, cooking continues with each other, creating a wonderful flowing spatial unity.
With the green scenery of the outdoor courtyard brought inside in virtue of the continuous floor-to-ceiling glass wall, nature completely infiltrates the indoor living space, and all spaces can fully enjoy the natural light and the fresh circulating air. On the second and third floors, there are private spaces such as children’s rooms, master room and bedrooms. These rooms are arranged around the void space of the living room, space between the private and public areas flows, connected while separated, contributing to the rhymed integration of unity and privacy. The basement space accommodates the owner’s collection and more private activities such as meetings and entertainment, including lounge、gallery, gym, video room, sauna room and other entertainment spaces. The project makes it possible for the children to run freely and delightfully in the nature, the owner is able to chat with the elders cooking in the kitchen while enjoying the beautiful scenery.
This kind of living experience in the nature is especially rare and precious under the epidemic period. Ripples on the Shore combines the culture, nature of historic city Shaoxing with style of modern simplicity, revealing an ecological, light and comfortable lifestyle that breaks the influential stereotype of "luxurious" and “heavy” villa products, exploring new living experience.