The project located at No. 111 Hunan Road, is a “Spanish Colonial Revival” architecture. Sited amongst many of its kind built 100 years ago, this project introduces a new subject to the neighborhood–an “Eastern New Modern” aroma brand.

Our design aims to resolve its programmatic discord, structural challenges, and perceived conflict.” Innovation: No threshold is aligned, no door frame repeated. The unique “Eastern New Modern” brand image of To Summer is achieved by framing particular views in the interior space. The dissonance between the site’s Western style and the brand’s Eastern aesthetic is yet another design challenge. We proposed to resolve it by connecting the “holes.” Typical Spanish Colonial Revival architecture emphasizes spatial boundary to enhance programmatic use, which is achieved through plenty of doorways and apertures.

Creativity:
By opening the doors and windows, the interior and exterior jointly create a To Summer Courtyard. Our design intends to foster a garden-like spatial experience by connecting the indoor and outdoor. Rather than “exteriorizing” the indoor space, we thread the space with flexible circulation, allowing the visitor to explore and curate their own unique picturesque experience. 

Functionality:
We treat the “holes” as “frames,” opportunities to create views. Adjusting the proportion of doors and windows, turning them into different forms of thresholds, the design reevaluates the existing spatial sequence. Mirrors are introduced as new thresholds. By “puncturing” the walls with various sized mirrors, we created portals that connect the “holes” through framing and reflecting, collaging the product and scenic views, collapsing the virtual and the real. Standard commercial functions are programmed on the ground floor, allowing the second floor to transform as Summer’s living room, tea room and study. The second floor embraces an open floor plan where visitors are encouraged to appreciate minute seasonal changes reflected within the space, such as adoring the winter sun and ever-changing shadows cast by surrounding trees. Interior lighting is dimmed. We played mostly with natural light and a restrained use of band light to render a homie atmosphere.

Sustainability:
The focus of our design is to facilitate new functions while preserving and restoring the original structure. These Spanish villas of Shanghai typically adopt elevated ground floor to prevent moisture damage, resulting in relatively low ceilings. Upon inspection of the site, we discovered a structural hazard — the foundation bricks and ground beams under the elevated floor had become brittle. We demolished the elevated floor which allowed for strengthening the foundation as well as gaining head space. The auxiliary beam of the upper level had severe termite damage; we reinforced it with steel beams, thus rendering the original wooden columns functionless. Yet this column was retained by design, preserving the authentic structural aesthetics of the villa.