atelier alter translates bamboo into double façade for senior center

the synthetic landscape forms a transition between shifting horizontal shifting plates that move up towards the wood grain aluminum louver system.

Atelier Alter edited by thomai tsimpou November 10, 2014 3 min

atelier alter translates bamboo into double façade for senior center
all images courtesy of atelier alter

the architecture of the ‘guangxi senior center’ by atelier alter departs from a humanistic aspect. the project means to create a space for the retirees, who spent most of their youth in culture revolution. ‘despite historic impacts, the communal life developed during the past movement has always been the recollection of the time,’ says the designers. the sense of belonging in the era of uncertainty offers a critique to the isolation and apathy of contemporary society. they elaborate by saying that the project, ‘tries to evoke that sense of belonging for our parents’ generation and the generations to come.’

atelier alter guangxi senior center bamboo double facade china
view from the back

with farming providing a common theme, the natural ground is where their collective memory based upon. as a result, the space of resemblance is constructed through the manipulation of the terrain. in the larger scale, the site situates at the expending edge of urbanization. it confronts a higher datum of the preserved vegetation and a lower datum of the new developments. the response reconciles the extremes in topography by forming a transition between the two through a series of shifting horizontal plates. in the architectural scale, this is reinterpreted as a multi-level plane, with the underground folding into the street level, and extending vertically into the second floor. as the surface continues to move upwards, it manifests in the upper stories. here, a wood grain aluminum louver system brings the drastic landscape to the interior, as a way to respond to the indigenous bamboo framing typology.

atelier alter guangxi senior center bamboo double facade china
zigzag path to swimming pool

atelier alter guangxi senior center bamboo double facade china
northeast view of entrance to the underground swimming pool

atelier alter guangxi senior center bamboo double facade china
view of courtyard

atelier alter guangxi senior center bamboo double facade china
sunken garden of swimming pool entrance

atelier alter guangxi senior center bamboo double facade china
view from interior garden

atelier alter guangxi senior center bamboo double facade china
primary entrance

atelier alter translates bamboo into double façade for senior center - 1
detail for double facade

atelier alter guangxi senior center bamboo double facade china
view from the top of children’s park

atelier alter guangxi senior center bamboo double facade china
interior lobby detail

project info:

client: bureau of retired veteran cadres in guangxi and urban construction investment group co., ltd. of guangxi
architects: atelier alter
location: intersection between yunjing road and yuewan road, nanning, guangxi
principals in charge: xiaojun bu, yingfan zhang
project architect: wenming pan, ping jiang, guanghong qiu
design team: maoxian huang, qiang zeng, zhenwei li, kai qin
local architect: guangxi institute of building research & design
civil/structure/MEP engineer: guangxi institute of building research & design
landscape architect: guangxi institute of building research & design
general contractor: guangxi metallurgical construction company, guangxi construction group fifth construction engineering LLC.
cost: $12,967,440
area: 17576.71 SF
year: 2014

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