White Pagoda Temple Hutong Courtyard Renovation: A Traditional Courtyard House Renovation for Homestay

Located in Beijing, China, White Pagoda Temple Hutong Courtyard Renovation is a renovation project of a traditional courtyard house. The goal is to transform an old and shabby courtyard into a desirable courtyard house for homestay. Designed by B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio, this project also turns out this house into a living space that suitable for the contemporary lifestyle of the young generation.

Background

These days, a lot of young people choose to leave their old houses in Hutong. They prefer to settle in the new areas of a city surrounded by big concrete buildings. This makes the old city has become a rundown area full of seniors. The most essential objective of this renewal is to bring young people and generations back to live in the old city.

Design

The architect expects this renovation project can respect the courtyard’s existing spatial organization to preserve its original spatial quality. This project also includes transforming a traditional courtyard house into a living space that is more suitable for the young generation’s contemporary lifestyle.

This house sits within Beijing’s second ring road in the Hutong with 250 m2 in size. The aim of this renovation project is to create a desirable courtyard house for homestay and also to find a new way of living within the traditional Beijing courtyard house with respect to the contemporary lifestyle regarding the specifications.

Structure

Sits at a Y-shaped intersection, the existing courtyard has two facades that are fully exposed to the streets. The boundaries of the courtyard are presented as a strong visual impact for the people on the street. Originally, the courtyard ammonites eight families. The additional building components are removed to reveal the courtyard’s original spatial composition and also to maximize the usable space for the needs of a large number of residents.

Rooms

There are six guest rooms designed with a different function, area, and spatial composition. These rooms are located within the courtyards. The largest guest room is 30 m2 while the smallest guest room is 20 m2. Three guest rooms are loft and another three are master rooms.

The rooms are also organized with different color schemes despite the difference in size. Three of the rooms offer a light color tone and another three have a dark color tone. All other spaces are public spaces, apart from the guest rooms, and available for public display and exhibition during the day.

Details

The additional illegal building components are removed so the 6 guest rooms can form a new square shape courtyard. A new staircase tower has been built using recycled old grey tiles on the southern center of the courtyard. These tiles come from the demolished parts of the building. After reinforcing the original structure of the building, an exhibition space is formed on the rooftop.

A stunning view extends from the courtyard, standing on the rooftop under the large trees’ shadow. This extends all the way to the Miaoying Temple. The beauty and magnificence of the continuous traditional buildings are expressed from the rooftop view.

White Pagoda Temple Hutong Courtyard Renovation Gallery

Photographer: Xia Zhi