y.ad group’s micro-renovation of historic temple in china unfolds around core courtyard

minimal interventions revive shennong temple in zhejiang

y.ad studio has completed a micro-renovation of Shennong Temple located within the Shuitingmen Historical and Cultural Block of Quzhou, Zhejiang, China. Also known as Yaowang Temple, this Yuan Dynasty-era building presented numerous challenges for the Shanghai-based team due to strict cultural relics protection regulations. The renovation needed to respect the building’s historical significance and protected status while enhancing its spatial experience, all without altering its original appearance and structure or increasing costs.

Under these limitations, there was essentially no room for spatial alterations or design, not even for wall repairs. The solution included minimal interventions — avoiding any damage to or alteration of the temple’s original columns and walls — focusing on restoring the space and enhancing circulation, with the central courtyard becoming a focal point of the design. Further, based on the site conditions, the team employed concise and effective methods to maximize the space’s activation.

y.ad studio restores circulation with a core courtyard

Shennong Temple spans 500 square meters featuring a rectangular, quadrangle-style layout, with a front hall, main hall, and courtyard, where statues of Shennong and other notable physicians are enshrined. This brick-and-wood structure, listed as a protected heritage building in 1993, mainly consists of a front hall and a main hall, connected by a courtyard and wing rooms.

During site visit, the y.ad studio team discovered that despite previous renovations, the space remained idle and somewhat dilapidated. The layout had been reconfigured by former users with glass and wooden window panes. The walls were covered with murals, statues were scattered along the walls of the rear hall, wooden pillars had been painted black, altering their original appearance, and the courtyard was overrun with weeds. To restore circulation, the partitions blocking access between the front and rear halls were removed. The open-air courtyard was cleaned and redefined as the visual centerpiece, preserving the original trees and water vats and creating a cohesive flow between different areas of the temple. The corridors, once merely passageways, were transformed to include display areas, enhancing their function while retaining the integrity of the original design.

preserving the heritage site

Due to the constraints of cultural relics preservation regulations, y.ad studio decided to adopt a concept similar to exhibition curation combined with lighting design. The renovation avoided direct contact with the original walls and columns, adhering to a ‘repair before insertion’ approach. The walls of the front and rear halls, along with the damaged wooden window panes and black-painted wooden window patterns, beams, and columns, were thoroughly cleaned and restored. In line with the principle of ‘repairing the old as old’, the building was restored to its original state, while deliberately retaining some traces of aging.

Without adding any fixed walls or installations, the design team reconfigured the entire space and inserted new elements using movable assemblies and a modular approach, while focusing on integrating statue pedestals, display racks, soft furnishings, and lighting, aiming for a quick, feasible, and cost-effective renovation.

Throughout its history, the temple has undergone multiple renovations. It was established during the Yuan Dynasty in the 13th century, initially serving as a lecture hall, and during the Ming Dynasty, it served as a medical school. The existing structure was collectively funded and built by Quzhou’s local medical community in 1763 during the Qing Dynasty, with a significant reconstruction in 1872. During the Republic of China period (1912-1949), merchants from Lanxi specializing in medicinal materials used the temple as the guild hall of the Pharmaceutical Industry Association.

project info:

name: Micro-renovation of Shennong Temple in Quzhou
architect: y.ad studio

collaborator: Hangzhou Zhongya Architectural Design Co., Ltd.

chief architect: Yan Yang

design team: Zhao Siyuan, Yan Yu

construction: Quzhou Yiqing

location: Quzhou, Zhejiang

area: 500 square meters

photographer: SCHRAN

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