The spiral form of a conch shell knowledgeable the Serpentine Bookhouse in Shenzhen, China, a library that has been designed by native structure studio Atelier Xi.
Situated within the Dasha River Ecological Hall, the 300-square-metre constructing by Atelier Xi gives a kids’s studying room, public restrooms and a viewing balcony with seating areas for guests and residents.
“The constructing performs like a rising spiral artwork sculpture, returning as a lot floor areas as doable for plant progress and vacationer actions,” founding principal Chen Xi informed Dezeen.
“The spiral spatial construction each shapes the inside terraces and creates a 360-panoramic view of the encircling panorama by means of expansive home windows,” he continued.
Atelier Xi created the construction’s distinctive form utilizing a metal framework of Vierendeel trusses – a truss with no diagonal members – and tensile reinforcement.
This construction permits the interior and outer edges of the spiral to be lined fully with full-height home windows, offering a altering view of the encircling panorama as guests transfer up the constructing.
“The start line of the spiral touches floor, meandering among the many timber,” Xi informed Dezeen. “In the meantime, the second flooring on the finish of the spiral path ultimately opens up the vista, providing a distinct perspective overlooking the park.”
“For guests, strolling alongside the inside house gives a view that unfolds repeatedly, elevating their perspective like an unrolling scroll portray,” he added.
Excessive-level home windows present cross-ventilation to the inside, with sun-shading offered by vertical aluminium louvres that cowl the constructing.
A staircase wraps the interior wall of the spiral, whereas the outer wall is lined with bookcases which might be aligned to a collection of stepped platforms.
On the high, wood-framed glass doorways open onto a small, sheltered balcony space with seating overlooking the panorama.
Every finish of the spiral, in addition to its underside, has been completed with panels of corten metal that had been chosen to reflect the color of the picket finishes used all through the inside.
“Aluminum is chosen for the sunshade grille to make sure sturdiness within the sizzling coastal local weather, and is completed with a coloration scheme carefully resembling the wooden tones used within the inside,” defined Xi.
“Corten metal plates with darker coloration are used as facade finish caps, symbolizing the start and finish of the spatial motion inside,” he added.
Atelier Xi selected to retain the present pathways surrounding the constructing and introduce new planting and a concrete bench that sits beneath the spiral, sheltered by its higher storey.
The Serpentine Bookhouse was lately longlisted within the civic undertaking class of Dezeen Awards 2023. Fluid types characteristic often within the work of Atelier Xi, with earlier initiatives together with a sculptural pavilion in rural China and a curving concrete extension to an deserted library.
The pictures is by Zhang Chao.
