workshopXZ Shanghai Workplace Renovation / workshopXZ

workshopXZ Shanghai Office Renovation / workshopXZ

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Text description provided by the architects. The project is located in a lane on Huaihai Road, Shanghai French Concession. Built in 1930 as a garden house, the house has weathered the historical storm for nearly 100 years, compared to a well-preserved, restored historic building separated by a wall. It had lost its original plan and layout during the gradual adding-on throughout the history: Two slender wings have been added on either side of the main structure, which encircles the small courtyard like two arms; and the most interesting is a glittering ionic column painted gold standing in the center of an entry room, like a Ding Hai Shen Zhen. This column becomes the visual focal point of the entire space, and also the anchor of the entire design. The most open functions revolve around the column: exhibitions, drawing and model making, discussions, and a library, all take place here. Two 6mm thick stainless steel plain plates protrude from the wall, meet around the column, and anchor their load-bearing feet on the column. The gap between the two plates is filled with magnetic tracks, turning this suspended metal island into a pluggable workbench.

The beautiful courtyard and a wall covered with ivy are so precious in Shanghai, that every space facing the courtyard is designed to be more open and public, with large floor-to-ceiling doors and windows that can be opened directly into the courtyard. In addition to the exhibition hall/library space at the entrance, and the semi-private meeting room, the two wings that because of their short floor height and depth, becomes one comfortable pantry and dining room: the overhanging preservative wood platform extends its space: when the sliding windows are fully opened, you can even lie on it for a short while; the other side becomes a model material room and bathrooms. The work area is arranged in the square inner room and can accommodate 12 people to work.

The real design, in this case, was not the function layout of the space, but interesting archaeology. According to the real estate agents, the house was a mocking historical building built in the 80-90s. However, a different story was told by the building itself, during our constant dialogue with it while designing and constructing. Architecture is capable of communicating its own history, has meaning, and develops a contemporary dynamic of its own. ———as Anne-Catrin Schultz stated in her book on Carlo Scarpa. The old fixtures were partially removed: the square wood door pockets from the 80s, the cabinets that built into the walls, and the plaster ceiling with leaking traces… And slowly exposed the original look of the building. Beneath the square door pocket, was the semi-arched red brick arches, above the ceilings were mud slats (used in the construction of suspended ceilings or partitions around the 1950s and 1960s), and there was actually a fireplace hidden in closets. These exposed materials and colors finally got to speak out their history and the past of the house.

More clues came from the ceiling of the room inside. The moldings were very delicate and complicated, unlike the modern style of the 1980-90s. However, some of these moldings extended to half of the other room and stopped abruptly. As for the golden Ionic column: it was not a decorative column placed in the center of the house for Feng Shui, but a solid load-bearing column. After peeling off the gold paint, the rough concrete inside revealed its beautiful blue-gray. The original layout and plan of the house were not really confirmed until the preserved historic building next door was accidentally discovered and compared with it. The column was originally an outdoor colonnade, and the outermost room was actually added in a later period.

The renovation gradually turned into archeology. The precious evidence must be preserved and spoken out loud. Therefore, the ceiling that was originally suspended lower for the air-conditioning duct had to be partially raised, creating a carved nitch for the preserved column capital; the exposed red brick arch was left untouched, by building an L-shaped track around it to fit the sliding door. The track also worked as a frame to highlight the texture of the old arch. The renovation gradually turned into archeology. The precious evidence must be preserved and spoken out loud. Therefore, the ceiling that was originally suspended lower for the air-conditioning duct had to be partially raised, creating a carved nitch for the preserved column capital; the exposed red brick arch was left untouched, by building an L-shaped track around it to fit the sliding door. The track also worked as a frame to highlight the texture of the old arch. And In order not to damage the beautiful old ceiling in the interior, no lamps were installed on the top surface, but a circle of ceiling-wash light belt was installed on the wall to deliberately light the ceiling. Finally, a runway-like ring of lights “encircles” the two rooms that were originally indoor and outdoor.

New histories are being constructed still.During the design of the space, the “relationship” between the new and the old is the most thought. On the premise of “No Touching”, the new materials often surround the old elements in a dramatic way, with its modern sense of the times(stainless steel, chanel glass, aluminum alloy, etc.) to set off the memory of the old elements.

The NEW Makes the OLD Older. While pursuing the preservation of the historical layer, some process or mistakes in construction have also been preserved as the so-called “contemporary historical traces”. For example, the original plan for the wall of the conference room was to use iron powder as the base and whiteboard paint on it, to achieve the effect of a magnetic whiteboard. However, despite the many times the construction team tried with their iron powder, the suction could not be strong enough. But they surprisingly left a rust wall with a very rich and beautiful texture. Therefore, the rust texture of the entire wall was simply retained, and a horizontal iron sheet was suspended outside the wall to make a new magnetic whiteboard. This playful move also inadvertently adds a new layer of history to the space.