Excerpt: Fairyland Guorui is a housing project designed by the architectural firm UNStudio. The design approach for the villa development is the combination of individuality and distinct community quality. As a result, a mix of consistency and singular identity defines the scheme. Like sculptures, the individual villas line the combination of orderly pathways and free-form structures oriented toward different views of the surrounding natural landscape.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by Architect] The Fairyland Guorui Villa complex is located in Beijing’s Miyun Economic & Technical Development Zone 1. The site is situated on a plot where two rivers converge, surrounded by natural scenery and mountain views. To take full advantage of the location, the layout of the villas follows an open plan organization.
The public spaces within and adjacent to the complex follow the design philosophy in the master plan and respond to the site’s context in the waterside location. This includes a riverside boulevard, a tree-lined boulevard, and a grand central garden. The garden landscaping of the whole development corresponds to the surrounding natural environment. To support this pedestrian-friendly outdoor quality for the residents, vehicular traffic has been kept to a minimum, and cars are confined to a central parking location.
Essential to the design approach for the villa development is the combination of individuality and distinct community quality. As a result, a mix of consistency and singular identity defines the scheme. Like sculptures, the individual villas line the combination of orderly pathways and free-form structures oriented toward different views of the surrounding natural landscape.
The architectural masterplan envisions sculptural villas scattered along the riverside, each with its characteristics and living spaces embedded in the communal space to stimulate a neighborhood effect. The facades of the villas are designed to create a strong inside/outside condition and, to achieve this, employ different ‘sets’ of integrated features, including balconies, bay windows, canopies or terraces, and roof-top gardens. Various arrangements of these features are applied to create different types of villas across the compound, enabling variety and preserving the sense of uniqueness through the organization of geometric elements.
Through the creation of these base elements, numerous variations are made possible while keeping an overall balance and consistency throughout the development and enhancing the efficiency in the actual production and construction of the facade.
Within the organization of the villas, the modern and classical living are combined with respect to family life. The villas offer a variety of rooms for family members of all ages: some communal for shared family activities, some for entertainment and family dining, and others for privacy. Incorporating the outside spaces into the facade design adds further variety to the living spaces. The directional windows recessed balconies, and the activation of the roof as a living space creates a balance between privacy for the owners and the most possible daylight, wide views, and open spaces.
The addition of these facade features further connects the experience of the architecture to the surrounding landscapes. Through slight transformations in shape – created by the slight twisting of the curved surfaces of the façade – rhythm in the elevations is created, which adds continuity and further unifies the architecture with the landscape. In addition, the clay color of the facade fosters this intrinsic connection between the built and natural environment.
The facade cladding is made from recycled stone produced from powdered stone. It is applied to the facade in a contemporary fashion. This enables the realization of the fluent curves while permitting the necessary tolerances for the local construction team.
Numerous energy-saving devices and solutions are used in the villas. Passive design techniques are employed, which consider the orientation of the individual buildings and the location and size of the glazed portions of the facade with respect to heat gain. Further energy-saving installations include the use of advanced heat insulation in the walls and windows, an adjustable floor heating system, solar energy, a state-of-the-art ventilation system that removes nearly all of the unwanted and unhealthy particles and provides clean and healthy air, a wind power system for lighting supply and sustainable construction materials.
Drawing
Images
