LOONG PALACE - Genuine Elegance

In the Chinese paradigm of living, first there should be a wall, then a building. The concept of home is a world demarcated by walls. In order for it to accommodate the heart and soul of a resident, it should be a world of its own with heaven, earth and landscape. A space that brings peace to the mind is then called home. This is where the design draws inspiration to render a space of all these elements, such as the walls, the house and the yards, which is the core of home. Horizontally there are two layers of enclosure to add on the spatial experience of the resident while creating more daily interactions with the building. The main body of the building has a C-shaped layout, enclosing the central courtyard, which is the core of family life. The building itself is also surrounded by the courtyards enclosed by the wall, forming three yards in the front, in the back and on the side respectively. The overall layout isolates the residence from the environment externally and ensures good circulation and connectivity internally. Vertically it consists of four floors. The first floor and the basement floor, which are conventionally separated, interlock with each other. The sunken backyard and the partially sunken front yard work together to channel air and sunshine into the basement floor which, together with the first floor, forms the main living space. Culture is well incorporated into architecture through the design. For example, the ritual, order and succession in a family is symbolized by the arrangement of entrance such as the gate to the courtyard and doors into the building. Decoration-wise, elements combining Confucian and Taoist ideas are sculpted on the sunny side and dark side of the building as a part of its cultural decoration. The elaborate design of the building conveys a image of elegance in every aspect, which conforms to the characteristics of regional context. The value of handwork lies in its " ingenuity of craftsmanship", the beauty of which is perfected with the help of modern technology. The craftsmanship and its value are validated and incremented over time, which makes it shining and outstanding more as time goes by. Architectural decoration and patterns are a symbol of traditional values and ideas and thus highly recognizable and appealing. Utilizing on this, the design reinforces every key visual focus to give a characteristic presence. In Oriental residential culture, the space is restrained and inward, and the courtyard is open and inclusive. Through the integration of space and courtyard, the artistic conception of eastern style of layering floors and courtyards is recreated. Three layers of gate system are designed, namely, entrance to the community, entrance to the private courtyard and entrance to the house, to give better privacy to the user. The project is located in the northwest of Beijing. The surroundings are full of vitality with water in the near north, mountains in the south, fields in the west and woods in the east. Surrounded by several reserved green lands, the construction site of this project relatively independent. The design converts the reserved green lands into components of a residential courtyard without sacrificing existing green space. In doing so, the landscape inside and outside the site are well integrated, maximizing the natural landscape while giving full consideration to the urban environment at large.