The project is located in Shunyi District, about 35 km northeast of downtown Beijing, and the architects renovated and expanded the original house, transforming it into a new home with one and two dogs and four houses. THE PRE-REMODELED PARQUET IS TYPICAL OF THE 90S DRY-TILED RURAL COTTAGE: IT CONSISTS OF A 120-SQUARE-METER MAIN ROOM AND A 45-SQUARE-METER OUTBUILDING. And with the expansion of the city, the former farmhouses have also adapted to the lifestyle of contemporary white collar workers, and part of the building space has lost the value that once existed for peasant labor. Since the building is a utilitarian brick wall cottage, the concrete columns commonly used in modern structures are not visible, so the interior space has more space to play.

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We raised the ceiling of the building to 3 meters and installed a prefabricated concrete ceiling, which makes the interior more suitable for the scale of the house and also satisfies the use of a family of four. Christian Taeubert, co-founder of Half a Child Left Behind, said: “We are happy to give vacant homes a second life, transforming the building from a wasteland into a lively place to live.

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We added 50 square meters to the base of the main house, adding to the comfort of a four-person living experience. The two green spaces on the south and north sides of the main house create a relatively spacious living and social space, visually extending the space of the main house to the gardens on both sides. A 5.8-meter-wide, 11.5-meter-long, south-north-facing space becomes a new home for living and entertainment. “We created a spacious central social space where everything you could think of is happening in a minimalist enclosed space,” says Christian. Suspended roofs on both sides of the main house block the wind and provide additional outdoor recreation space for residents. At the same time, these suspended roofs block all south-facing rooms from the hot summer sun, while the low winter sun shines deep into the room for comfort and warmth. Both ends of the social space are surrounded by folding glass doors; and if you open these glass doors completely, the adjacent garden becomes a natural extension of the living area, leaving people without intimacy with nature; and the swimming pool and outdoor kitchen on the north side also serve as extensions of the central social space, attracting discussion about the garden.

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The external beam of the residence spans the south garden and connects to the outbuilding opposite. The two pillars and gliders supporting the beam form several transverse door frames. These door frames and garden floor height differences divide the garden into different outdoor spaces, terraces and seating areas. Beams, columns, garden walls and south-facing elevations are full of vines. The evaporation of these plant water vapors, as well as the evaporative cooling effect produced by the pool in the North Garden, keep the main space always cool, making it comfortable in hot summers. When the doors on both sides are open, the air flow can pass through the room, plus the action of two indoor ceiling fans, and the main room has a cozy little climate; allowing people to use air conditioning even in the heat of 35 to 38 degrees. Sun Min, co-founder of Half Child Guò Bäner, said: “We all love to spend a good time outdoors, so we want to eliminate the boundaries between indoors and outdoors. So our kids can run through the living room and restaurant from the south side yard and jump into the pool at the other end of the apartment's garden, which is really fun!

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Located on the west side of the living room inside the main house are two children's bedrooms with the same area. Both rooms have walk-in wardrobes and the top of the wardrobe is a bed. On the other hand, as part of the residential extension, the master bedroom is located on the east side of the main space, with a bathroom and a dressing room.

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In addition, there is a bathroom for children and guests and a storage room, which makes the main house even more functional. Apart from a two square meter corridor leading to the toilet and storage room, the flat layout does not waste any extra circulation space, so it is very efficient. From the main house, through the garden on the south side, you reach the guest rooms and the Buddha Temple. On the foundation of the South House, we have added a 35 m² simple storage room to house family camping and gardening equipment.

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The exterior walls of the original building are insulated and insulated, and the new building continues this design. High-performance air-water heat pumps can operate in an environment of 20 degrees below zero Celsius, powering the cooling and heating cycles of homes. The hearth in the living room, as a backup source of heat, its temperature is also sufficient to keep people warm. Whether it's early spring or late autumn; early morning or evening, the warmth it provides can keep people warm even without the need for underfloor heating. Even in cold winters, the firebox can distribute the peak load of the heat pump to power the underfloor heating. We did not demolish the original, unreasonable buildings, but integrated them, saving energy consumption in later use and saving construction costs as much as possible by reusing existing structures.
Finally, Christian said: “Our redevelopment plan should inspire more people who are plagued by today's rent in the inner city of Beijing. Over the 12-year lease period, our monthly rent is two-thirds lower than when we originally lived in the city.

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Project Information
Project Name: M001 Residential
Project Type: Private Home Remodeling
Completion date: May 2022
Size: 220 sqm living area, 35 sqm storage room
Location: Beijing Shunyi
Architecture and Interior Design: More than half a year ago
Design Director: Christian Taeubert, Sun Min
Design Team: Yuen Wenbo, Ma Shiyu
Photo: Boris Shiu
Stylist: Lily Zhao
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