Location

Langzhong, China

Year

—

Programme

Mixed Use

Area

4,047 m²

Status

In progress

Client

Private

The project stands at the edge of Langzhong’s ancient town, within a territory shaped by water, history and urban continuity. It is neither fully inside the protected historic fabric nor detached from it. It occupies a threshold condition.

The project occupies a threshold between the ancient city and its contemporary continuation.

Langzhong — the old town within the bend of the river, seen from the air

Langzhong — the river, the wooded hill and its pagoda facing the town

Langzhong — a top-down view of the grey tiled roofs and the cleared site within them

Langzhong — the embankment between the river and the dense fabric of the old town

Langzhong — a lane in the old town, tiled eaves and shop banners above the passers-by

Langzhong — the grey tiled roofs of the old town with the wooded hill behind

From public street to private interior.

The programme is organised as a gradual transition from public to private. Along the main pedestrian street, where the urban activity is most intense, the restaurant and principal access establish the building’s public face. Here, the project opens to the city.

Further inside, the intensity changes. Tea rooms, spa and gathering spaces form an intermediate layer, neither fully public nor domestic. Beyond this condition, the private houses are placed deeper within the plot, protected by courtyards, gardens and planted filters. Privacy is not produced by separation alone, but by sequence, distance and light.

Symmetry, module, construction.

The project approaches traditional Chinese architecture as a spatial system rather than an image. From it, the design takes symmetry as an ordering structure, modular repetition as a constructive measure, and the courtyard as a device for privacy and transition.

The module organises rooms, dining areas, structure and services. Repeated elements establish a clear rhythm in plan and facade, while singular spaces appear at corners and moments of transition. This allows the building to remain legible as one architectural body despite the complexity of its programme: restaurant, hospitality, semi-public spaces and three private houses.

Technical bands concentrate services, protect the main rooms from the street and separate the different fields of use. Construction becomes a way of ordering interior life.

Langzhong — the courtyard seen through the deep opening beneath the building

Langzhong — the traditional timber and tile facade with a glazed volume set beneath it

Langzhong — the sunken courtyard, a sheet of water falling into the pool among the planting

Stone, wood, light.

The materiality of the project begins with a local reference: the grooved stone of Langzhong. On the exterior, this condition is reinterpreted through finely carved stone surfaces that establish continuity with local tradition without copying it literally.

Inside, the same logic is transferred to wood. The lines of the stone become profiles, screens and linings that introduce depth, shadow and a more domestic scale. The relationship between both materials creates continuity between exterior and interior while changing the temperature of the space.

Langzhong — material texture, texture stone light

Langzhong — material texture, texture stone dark

Langzhong — material texture, texture wood