shanghai tianhua integrates zen culture into tahoe qingyun town

located 30km southeast of fuzhou, china, the tahoe qingyun town is famous for its local cultural treasure. it is surrounded by a natural environment where tress, creeks, mountains and streams make the perfect location for creating a unique resort that integrates the traditional zen culture of the song dynasty. envisioned and brought to life by shanghai tianhua architectural design, the project reinterprets tradition while featuring a solemn and unconventional architecture.

all images by SCHRAN architectural photography

shanghai tianhua architectural design redefined the iconic elements from the song dynasty’s roofs. the façade is outlined by a wood grain aluminum plate while the whole building adopts a steel structure. according to the proportion of building eaves in the song dynasty, triangular support is chosen as a repeating element which forms the main structural system. in order to create a large span, the roof adopts a fish-bellied truss that connects the vertical supporting elements. these eaves are designed to be hollowed out in order to deal with the local typhoon solution, while ensuring high transparency.

the architects aimed to hide all the cumbersome functional components, specially the drainage. having simplicity as the main goal of the design, they set up a roof drainage gutter where the rainwater pipes are hidden in the building’s square columns, and the roof water can be discard to the ground. each eaves louver is designed with a slope and a water retaining groove on the inside. in case of low volume rainfall, the outdoor space under the eaves is unaffected by rain.

a double-layer hollow LOW-E high-transparent glass was used to hide the building’s maintenance structure while it highlights the load-bearing components. the 4-meter glass skin is placed in a curtain wall which only shows the vertical elements, leaving the building bright and transparent.

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