{"id":39488,"date":"2025-08-01T13:56:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:56:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/39488\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T13:56:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:56:11","slug":"atelier-wenarch-designs-bookstore-to-float-over-xixi-wetlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/39488\/","title":{"rendered":"atelier wen’arch designs bookstore to float over xixi wetlands"},"content":{"rendered":"

a luminous bookstore opens in china<\/p>\n

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The Xixi Goldmye Bookstore<\/a> by Atelier Wen\u2019Arch is located in the Xixi Wetlands of Hangzhou, China<\/a>. The project transforms a 20-year-old U-shaped office building, originally closed-off and elevated above a water courtyard, into a layered and open space for reading and gathering.<\/p>\n

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Originally marked by a disordered structure and a disconnected relationship with its wetland surroundings, the building\u2019s framework has been pared down to its bare concrete columns. Through a series of deliberate architectural interventions \u2014 introducing new structural systems, timber frameworks, and water-facing spaces \u2014 the project recasts the site into a sequence of spatial experiences celebrates the landscape.<\/p>\n

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images \u00a9\u00a0Chen Hao<\/a><\/p>\n

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atelier wen\u2019arch reframes a closed-off structure<\/p>\n

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Led by architect Shen Wen<\/a>, the team at Atelier Wen\u2019Arch begins the project with a disintegration of the bookstore\u2019s existing roof and wall system. A suspended ceiling accommodates mechanical equipment, while a colonnade inserted along the west facade reorients the symmetrical composition into a more horizontal, flowing volume. A new pedestrian path of staggered concrete strips reclaims the vehicular driveway, creating a more nuanced and variable entrance sequence.<\/p>\n

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In alignment with the original structural grid, the architects introduced a double-beam timber system. These laminated pine beams intersect the concrete columns and extend outward in measured cantilevers, defining a rhythm of horizontal spaces. Between each timber pair runs lighting and air-conditioning return channels, integrating infrastructure into the structure\u2019s material logic.<\/p>\n

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the bookstore is elevated to float gently over Hangzhou\u2019s Xixi Wetland<\/p>\n

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Book Tower and Waterside Pavilion<\/p>\n

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Two spatial interventions by Atelier Wen\u2019Arch create vertical connections between bookstore\u2019s architecture and the surrounding nature. A Book Tower anchors the southwest corner, rising with stacked mezzanines that wrap in nested rings. The structure uses a concealed grid of steel I-beams flush with the timber floor to maintain visual and tactile coherence. At its top, the tower draws in light and views, while the interplay of human silhouettes and horizontal lines animates the space.<\/p>\n

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The southern pavilion, once a faceted glass volume, has been reshaped into a sunken waterside room with a sloped roof. A portion of the original floor was removed, allowing the pavilion to settle closer to the water\u2019s edge. Zinc panels clad the roof, and a silver-painted ceiling reflects ambient light. Recessed seating opens the space toward the wetland, drawing nature into the interior through quiet shifts in material and level.<\/p>\n

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Atelier Wen\u2019Arch reframes a U-shaped office into a light-filled cultural space<\/p>\n

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Filtering Light with Secondary Eaves<\/p>\n

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Drawing from Song Dynasty precedents, Atelier Wen\u2019Arch designed suspended secondary eaves that reinterpret historical sun-shading elements. These eaves are hung from the timber beams by upward tension rods, with downward braces at the center. They serve dual functions: reflecting soft light into the reading rooms and narrowing visual perspectives to maintain intimacy and focus on the wetland.<\/p>\n

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The eaves, folding windows, and benches between columns build a field of architectural in-betweens, which is neither fully indoors nor entirely outside, mediating between the constructed and natural environments.<\/p>\n

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the original framework is pared down to columns and reorganized with timber beams<\/p>\n

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floating \u2018book beams\u2019<\/p>\n

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Six sets of structural bookshelves, or \u2018book-beams,\u2019 stretch up to six meters between columns. Developed with structural engineer Zhang Zhun, the shelves consist of horizontal glued-laminated timber interlaced with vertical stainless steel plates, forming torsion-resistant I-beams. Suspended by rods and anchored to the columns, they serve both as shelving and as lightweight spatial dividers.<\/p>\n

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These floating book-beams interweave with the primary timber system, building a subtle framework that merges structural clarity with spatial openness. Views extend through the shelves, framing books against a backdrop of water, vegetation, and light.<\/p>\n

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\u2018book beams\u2019 span between columns and are backdropped by the scenic landscape<\/p>\n