Situated on a narrow street within the core of the old quarter of Beijing, Qishe Courtyard redefines modern living within a century-old heritage home.

The renovation project carried out by award-winning architecture and interior design studio, ARCHSTUDIO, breathes new life into an old and dilapidated “Siheyuan” (a traditional Chinese-style courtyard house) with three courtyards. The project’s name, “Qishe”, directly translates to “Seven” and “House” in Chinese - a tribute to the seven pitched-roof buildings of the original structure as well as the house’s street number.

To create a functional home that can adapt to the client’s modern lifestyle without taking away its old-age charm, the design team emphasized preservation by keeping many of the house’s existing structural elements from the Republican era untouched, including the basic wooden beams and several arched door openings. By polishing and repairing the original building surfaces as well as reinforcing the architectural structure, the fatigued house is revitalized into a livable dwelling and a workable backbone for the design team to insert additional functional spaces for the new home.

New living facilities including bathrooms, kitchen, and car garage were added to accommodate the client’s brief. The old and the new are seamlessly integrated to better meet the functional demands of a modern lifestyle. An embedded veranda at the core of the compound acts as a link that brings together the seven separated pitched-roof houses that made up the complex. The veranda functions as a circular route that reshapes the spatial configuration of the house, providing a playful walkway with excellent exposure to the central courtyard and views of the oversized tree just beyond the complex.

The front courtyard is mainly used as a garage where the house’s signature pitched roof was meticulously preserved. To create more space for parking, the design team removed the front and back walls of the original structure and shifted the entrance door to the side to allow ease of entry. Many valuable and historic elements were retained here, from the old gateway and carvings to the arched door opening. To improve sightlines, the wall between the front and middle courtyards were dismantled and replaced by a transparent veranda.

The veranda forms an elegant, curved plane within the complex, complementing the curved edges of the pitched roofs and forming several arc-shaped spaces within. The transparent walls bring the outside in, integrating the charming courtyard, landscape, and sky into the home. In the front courtyard, part of the veranda’s roof was bent downwards to form a curved wall, behind which are functional spaces such as the washroom, service room, equipment room and so on.

The oval-shaped central courtyard is meant to be a public activity space, which previously contained three houses. Surrounding the courtyard is the living room, a tea room, a dining room, and a kitchen.

To create a sense of formality and pay homage to the traditional courtyard building, the design team adopted a symmetrical spatial orientation within the house. The dining room features a folding door that can open to the outside space, extending indoor activities to the courtyard. A restored, arched doorway at the back of the dining room wall leads to the back courtyard dwelling, a compound with two bedrooms, a tea room, and a study.

The veranda theme continues into this section of the house, although featuring a more undulating plane that interacts with three old trees from the original courtyard. The unique configuration forms several small arc-shaped leisure spaces, which were then transformed into the study and tea room.

The bedrooms are located at the end of the complex and feature a symmetrical spatial layout to align with the roof ridge. The bathroom in each bedroom is located adjacent to a small courtyard, which allows plenty of natural light to flow in through a wall formed by glass brick.

To retain the marks of time, many of the damaged components of the house were replaced by the same material, including the original pinewood framework of the house. For new additions such as the veranda, doors, windows, and some furniture, the design team emphasized on using materials that can blend into the existing structural materials. To waterproof the original pitched roof and improve thermal insulation, polymer mortar was added to the finish which acts to optimize the performance of the roof system without taking away its characteristic textured look. The old building walls were restored by using the grey bricks from the demolished temporary architectural blocks originally in the courtyard, and the floor of the outdoor spaces was repaved with the same type of bricks to ensure visual consistency.

The Qishe Courtyard truly redefines modern living within a traditional house. Not only does the stunning new home respect the past through graceful preservation of the original structure, but it also looks to the future with new and exciting additions that can be enjoyed for generations to come.

PROJECT DETAILS

Project Name: Qishe Courtyard

Project Location: Beijing, China

Design Firm: ARCHSTUDIO

Chief Designer: Han Wenqiang

Project Designer: Wang Tonghui

Structural Consulting: Zhang Yong, BAMBOO ERA

Mechanical & electrical consulting: Zheng Baowei, Yu Yan, Li Dongjie

Lighting Consulting: Dong Tianhua

Plant Consulting: Zhang Xiaoguang

Image Editing: Wang Tonghui, Wen Chenhan

Construction Team: Chen Weixing, BAMBOO ERA, etc.

Project area: about 500 m2

Completion: January 2020

Photography: Wang Ning, Wu Qingshan