A Tale Of Two Buildings In Nantou / Fabersociety

Architects: fabersociety
Year: 2022
Photographs: Chao Zhang, Kangyu Hu
Manufacturers: Da Gu Cement
Lead Architect: Long Zuo
Lighting Design: GD-Lighting Design
Construction: West construction, Jiangxin Jian Zao
Project Planning and Design Management: Urban Research Institute of China Vanke; vaLue Design
Technical Coordination and Construction Drawing Design: Shenzhen Bowan Architecture Design Institute
Design Team Nt46: Long Zuo, Yunjie Jiang, Mei Cheng, Alex Lara, Xu Liu
Design Team Nt88: Long Zuo, Lubing Chen, Yifan Tang, Mei Chen, Yuan Na, Xia Wang
Structure Consultant: Zhun Zhang, Xuejian Chen
NT46: 535.2㎡
NT88: 879.8㎡
Client: Bureau of Public Works of Shenzhen Municipality Nanshan District
City: Shen Zhen Shi
Country: China

Two buildings in Nantou, NT46 and NT88, undertaken by fabersociety, showcase the structural reinforcement and transformation of self-built houses in an evolving urban village. NT46, facing a small square, blends into its surroundings with a reorganized mosaic facade and visible structural reinforcements. NT88, despite losing its park-facing facade, integrates new functional spaces with an added corridor and redefined relationships with its surroundings. Both projects emphasize visible reinforcement, preserving original structures while adapting to new uses, reflecting care and respect for the local community, and providing flexibility for future changes.

A tale of two buildings in nantou / fabersociety

NT46 and NT88 are self-built houses by villagers that no longer meet safety regulations and require comprehensive structural reinforcement. While this “standard process” is typically hidden or considered unremarkable, it carries significant symbolic meaning: an urban village may not be “high-end,” but its foundation must ensure safety and dignity, reflecting care and respect for the residents. Only with this foundation in place can further discussions proceed. Nantou is transitioning from temporary to permanent, marginal to normative, and vague to clear, creating a new urban identity and historical mission. As a result, a consistent approach was developed for both projects: making structural reinforcement visible, and creating recognizable new layers that establish a new logic and ethics. The design strategy involves strictly adhering to the existing structural system and reinforcing only where necessary, based on calculations. However, system-level adjustments were made to the structure, avoiding large-scale component reinforcement. This approach meets the minimum intervention requirements and respects those emotionally connected to the building by preserving its original appearance.

NT46 is situated next to a small square south of the main intersection. Approaching from the south gate and passing the Dongguan Guild Hall, visitors encounter it directly. The small square opposite the main facade is one of the most important public spaces on the axis and has a very comfortable scale. Amid the bustling street, it evokes a sense of ease. Utilizing the square, NT46 found a rare opportunity for self-expression in a densely built ancient city. However, this also posed the first challenge. In the vibrant cross streets and small squares, there was a condensed, exciting stage play. Ultimately, the architects decided to minimize the building’s prominence, allowing it to blend into the “unconscious” background of the square. This rare reduction in density is already appreciated and does not need further emphasis.

The design began with a concern about waking up the square and disturbing the area. The mosaic on the original facade, an efficient and durable material for residential buildings in Nantou, featured refreshing and beautiful ivory-white slices of blue. Aiming to retain the mosaic as much as possible, the architects reorganized the structure by adding a new platform to complement the architectural recess, opening the closed balcony to form an L-shaped corridor, and continuing the gray space along the street on the first floor to maintain the existing street logic. The resulting new building volume interfaces more fully with the square while maintaining a modest identity. Two small new balconies serve as subtle accents. The old building was wrapped with buttress columns, externalized on the facade for honest display. The “new” structural layer was placed over the “old” mosaic facade. While strengthening buttress columns is standard practice in reinforcement, slight variations in member dimensions on each floor add architectural patterns.

The ground-level columns restore the traditional “arcade” scene, acting as a façade element that extends to the square and the street. The buttress structure continues to the roof, blurring the boundary between inside and outside, opening up the interface, and creating vertical connectivity with the public system established by the square. Another challenge in the design process was the uncertain future use of the building. The only certainty is that the entire residential building will be converted into commercial or office space. This shift from private to public use is occurring throughout Nantou, especially on main streets. The structural externalization avoids the conventional practices of painting walls and replacing windows, thereby maximizing public potential. The exposed reinforced structure frees up internal walls and openings to adapt to changing functional requirements. This framework reserves flexibility and accommodates many unexpected scenarios.

NT88 was initially designed with an open park in mind, similar to NT46, and the architects had similar expectations for both. Unfortunately, the facade facing the park was soon completely blocked by a substation, causing NT88 to lose its display. As Nantou evolves, such changes have become typical, reflecting the daily life of closely built urban village structures. NT88, an unfinished red brick building hidden among trees, now finds its continued identity more reasonable without a direct display. It will eventually transform into a nearby small oasis, renovated with red brick paving. The house serves as an exhibition hall and office. In addition to the renovation, the design task included adding new floor areas, a challenge given the already compact site. Height restrictions meant the architects could only expand the standard floor area by adding a circle of corridors on the outside to meet new functional space requirements and provide circulation. This new addition to the building adds not just a skin but a new, vibrant thickness. The previous building is now part of a new life, valued inside and out.

The new thickness also offers an opportunity to rethink the relationship between the building and its surroundings. By reorganizing the floor plan and external environment, new ledges of varying sizes were introduced in all directions to meet area requirements. The widened volume is very close to the surrounding buildings and trees, with limited breathable interfaces, much like most urban village buildings with closed corners and clear boundaries that force “face-to-face” views. Consequently, the architects adjusted the facade strategy and redefined the “edge” to create a slightly more relaxed corner along the grid. The reinforcement of NT88 followed the same enclosure strategy. To avoid corner columns, a windmill-shaped shear wall system was arranged in the middle of the facade. Simultaneously, the height of the beams drops toward both sides, allowing the corners to be further released and opened. This system forms a logically self-consistent two-way lateral reinforcement system, enabling the load of the additional corridor to be reasonably distributed within the newly added structure without overburdening the original one. The force transmission path of the two-way cantilever is concealed within the building facade, with the corner openings hinting at this mechanical feature.

The shear wall in the middle alleviates the oppressive proximity of adjacent buildings, redirecting internal sight lines and external interactions, forming an extension to the corners. The new facade consists of horizontally connected windows, allowing natural light and unexpected views. Similar to NT46, this externalized reinforcement accommodates the program change of NT88 from residential to public use. Furthermore, the architects aim to provide a new prototype for urban village architecture. Their approach is relatively restrained, ensuring that even if clients propose an overly simplified use, the building remains true to the architectural concept while creating surprising moments.