Spiralling bookhouse in Shenzhen looks like an art sculpture & offers views of an idyllic riverside park

Designed by Atelier Xi, the Serpentine Bookhouse is an intriguingly designed public building, nestled among a canopy of lush trees, along Shenzhen’s Dasha River Ecological Corridor. The building includes a 300 sqm children’s reading room and a 24/7 public restroom that can be used by park visitors and residents. It is surrounded by a 13-kilometer scenic path of the riparian corridor to its west, a children’s park to its north, and residential communities on the east side.

Designer: Atelier XI

“Since its opening, it regularly holds art exhibitions and reading clubs, thus becoming one of the favorite spots for urban dwellers and especially family visitors to escape from the stresses of urban life and to commune with nature and fellow cultural communities,” said the studio.

The lead architect Chen XI was inspired by the traditions of the fishermen of the Dasha River while creating the visual design of the structure. He visualized a spiral conch concept, that rises, twirls, and wraps around like an art sculpture, and provides ample amount of space for plants to grow, and tourists to conduct activities. The twisting and rising quality of the building is what gave it the name ‘Serpentine Bookhouse’. Where the spiraling volume ends, you are met with an open balcony amped with views of the riverside park. The balcony functions as a common space for visitors to rest and relax at the same height as the treetops.

The interior of the building subtly mimics its exterior. The interior comprises of a series of stepped reading spaces that are positioned around trees in the atrium. The space is accentuated by floor-to-ceiling windows that provide stunning views of the park. “The stepped reading spaces with rich height differences provide an opportunity for children to explore and satisfy their natural curiosity and cultivate their interest in independent learning. The slide is open to children every day after school, which will add a fun and exciting dimension to the space,” said Atelier XI.

The building facade is equipped with continuous vertical grilles that serve as sunshade devices, to protect the space from the hot climate of Shenzhen. Operable windows and sliding doors have been installed to support natural ventilation and provide comfort during all seasons. The structural components of the building are prefabricated in a factory, and then assembled on-site, causing minimum disturbance to the park and the residents who live in the nearby community.

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This prefabricated steel structure is a multipurpose communal hub that can be flat packed like IKEA furniture

The Hithe is a prefabricated, demountable structure located in London’s Rotherhithe community designed to support local businesses while bridging the city’s communities with modern changes.

Meaningful social infrastructure typically challenges the existing schema of neighborhoods while providing innovative solutions to modern problems like urbanization and climate change. These issues generally lead to gentrification, which is rapidly changing cities across the globe, prompting city architects and planners to draw attempts of bridging the gap created between existing communities and new developments. Rotherhithe, a historic riverside district of London, faces the ongoing threat of gentrification and urbanization.

Designer: IF_DO Architecture

New social infrastructure is rising in the London neighborhood, providing residents with a meeting hub that could function as the very bridge that maintains the neighborhood’s identity while connecting it with imminent modern changes. The Hithe is a new, fully demountable, and re-locatable multipurpose structure designed by IF_DO Architects to bring the community of Rotherhithe together.

Described by IF_DO architects as, “A community hub, in a neighborhood undergoing rapid change,” The Hithe is a 200sqm is located on Albion Street, the neighborhood social hub. Prefabricated by design, the structure consists of five modules that were constructed offsite and then assembled on Albion.

Comprised of ten micro studios, The Hithe is designed to provide city residents with a common space for work, social, and commercial purposes. Constructed from a combination of lightweight steel and a timber frame, The Hithe was propped up on the site’s preexisting foundation to eliminate the need for any new concrete elements.

Inside, the micro studios are configured around the structure’s ground floor central gathering space that ties the kitchen and outside yard to the site’s north side, providing two larger workspaces on the first floor. In an effort to reduce the need for built-in circulation spaces, each of the ten micro studios is accessible from the building’s exterior.

Conceived as a communal hub, The Hithe building is “One that both supports local businesses, by providing them with the type of space that they need and enables local people to forge meaningful long-term connections, by providing a place for them to come together to work, socialize and play.”

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