Xinzhai Coffee Manor by Trace Architecture Office
20/03/2019.
[Yunnan] China
metalocus, RODRIGO GARCÍA
metalocus, RODRIGO GARCÍA
Description of project by TAO
Xinzhai Coffee Manor is located in Lujiangba, Baoshan, Yunnan Province, one of the world-recognized origins of Arabica coffee. The site sits on a plateau in the middle of Bawan Village at the foot of Gaoligong Mountain, overlooking the landscape of Lujiangba Area and the Nuijiang Valley to the north. Through renovation and addition, the client envisions a multifunctional complex that houses coffee storage, processing, tasting, sale, hotel rooms, coffee museum, auditorium and other functions, to provide visitors with premium holiday experience in par with the high quality coffee and pleasant resort scenery.
The site consists of two sets of courtyards, with lush trees and an abandoned cinema, a grey brick building originally built in the 80s. Most buildings on the site and in adjacent villages are made of brick. There is also a brick kiln still producing grey bricks near the site. These local features triggered the initial desire to build with bricks. Today, brickwork remains the predominant construction method in the area which makes it reasonable for adoption. Consequently, brick leads to different forms of vaults in architecture.
The entry sequence is circuitous. Driving on the village road, one experience up-looking, climbing and turning before reaching the manor at the end of the main street. From the enclosures in the courtyards to the broad scenic view upon entering the main building, this complex constructs a narrative experience of compression and relief.
The new building is connected to the old cinema through a set of corridors, forming three different courtyards: the central courtyard, the tree courtyard and the sunken courtyard. Visitors can reach functional areas through corridors from the central courtyard. Surrounded by existing trees, the buildings present themselves as the background of the courtyards connected by corridors, resembling to the layout of a monastery. The cinema, the largest mass on site, is renovated into a museum, which resembles the spiritual center as a cathedral to a monastery.
The main building is located at the north side of the plateau, one-storey lower than the central courtyard. The coffee storage space is located at the bottom level, and cross vaults create a cellar-like space shrouded in heaviness and dimness. Such heavy volume simultaneously responds to the physical requirement of a constant temperature and humidity. The coffee processing area is located at the mid level and requires large space for roasting and packaging. It combines long-span steel beams and one-way brick vaults to obtain a continuous open space, while bringing in views from the courtyards and the valley. Its side corridors allow visitors to walk around and do sightseeing. On the top level, concrete frame takes over brick to achieve maximum transparency, meeting the programmatic needs of hotel rooms overlooking the valley. From the bottom to the top, there is also a gradual transition from heaviness to lightness, responding to diverse needs from storage, processing to views.
The building uses two types of material: brick and concrete, which is consistent with materials commonly used locally, yet presenting variations. Its spatial quality integrates the heaviness of brick construction and the lightness of concrete structure, which is resulted from a thorough consideration of material, structure and program. The design begins with a perception of the site and reflections on the material, while its core is the characteristic of place it aims to create –belonging to the earth or leading afar to horizon.
TAO (Trace Architecture Office) founded by architect Hua Li in Beijing in 2009, is one of the most active design teams in China's construction industry today.
In the practice of TAO, architecture is not only seen as a formal object, but as an organism that is inseparable from its environment, as most of its projects are located in sites with distinct natural and historical features. The design practice creates an architecture and landscaping rooted in regional culture and environment by deepening the meaning of the building and making full use of the site’s conditions. The discussion of the spirit of the venue, climate response, the rational use of local resources, local materials and construction methods constitute the core content of each TAO project.
TAO's main design works include: Yunnan Handcraft Paper Museum (2010), Xiaoquan Elementary School Post-Disaster Reconstruction (2010), Wuyishan Bamboo Raft Factory (2013), Forest Building (2015), TiensTiens Cafe (2015). TAO has won the Asian Construction Association Award, the 2013 Akahan International Architecture Award, the 2012 Global Design Pioneer and Best Public Architecture Award, the China Architecture Media Award Young Architect Award and the WA Architecture Award. The firm’s works have been exhibited in important architectural exhibitions in Venice, New York, Berlin, Beijing, Shanghai among others, and have been widely published internationally.