X-anadu is a clubhouse located at Yizhuang district, the post-industrial site by the outskirts of Beijing. Yizhuang district is located at the south side of Beijing. In the past, from Yuan to Qing Dynasty (the 13th century to the early 20th century), Yizhuang was the royal hunting farm. The vast land contained four palaces, surrounding by mountains, nature and temples. The existing building is 33m x 13.2m, single-height box- frame building.
As an ex-canteen, the previous interior set up was based on the routine function. Our assignment is to re-fit in new hospitality programs as part of rejuvenated plan of the entire industrial park based on given structure constraints. The form is derived by new diagonal walls and existing orthogonal system. The wall is the key method not only fitting the new living demands, like desired functions and circulations and so on, but also adjusting the perspective sensation. The vertical compartments are repositioned so that light can illuminate the main spaces. The Orthogonal compartments of the X-anadu were rotated for the privacy and visual extension purposes.
The similar-modern-free plan creates the depth by the displacement and excavation of the walls so that the visual extension is maximized within the space. The envelope of building is kept calm and understated, with the re-composition of walls and glances of courtyards. The differences and dis-continuities of the walls release the sunlight into the inner spaces.
The skylight highlights both the entrance and the end of spaces. In the morning, the nature light reflects and brightens the dining area and the lounge area. During the evening, the interior lighting becomes the initial expression of X-anadu through the envelope silhouette, implying and confronting the outer world the true identity of X-anadu. The matte dark material is purposefully applied onto interior wall surface to reduce further interruption visually in-between interior and exterior domains. The ultimate purpose is to generate meaningful domains containing the interaction of light, time, space and being.