a Thoughtful Architectural Gesture with Attention to Little Details

A thoughtful architectural gesture with attention to little details. An architecture that aims at sustaining the community by being inclusive. Commendable and complete post occupancy evaluation that illustrates the socially responsive aim of the project.

This campsite is remotely sited in a mountain village of an eth-nic minority group. It is a non-proﬁt youth development campsite that is combined with a rural community centre. The design is a symbiotic concept in its intervention with the site,and employs lightweight assembly and local craft in construction. The project bridges together the mountain landscape, rural customs and camping activities, creating a settlement-like place that evokes sensitivity and emotions within people. Located on a narrow terrace of the mountainside near the village entrance (where the village road links up to the county road), the site is an abandoned primary school with a three-storey building. A compact site, the design adopts a concentrated layout, and utilises the school buildings as the anchor. The multifunctional lodge, service facilities and a variety of outdoor venues are built to meet the requirements of the campsite activities and commu-nity services.

A village library for the local community, especially children, has also been set up on the junction of the campsite en-trance and the village road. Guizhou has a moderate yet rainy climate, so shelter from rain and ventilation are the primary needs of buildings here. The mul- tifunctional lodge (integrating training, leisure, camping and dining functions) are topped with undulating haiper membrane, providing a continuous sharing space with good views and ventilation. A se-ries of non-orthogonal open spaces face the mountain and village,and are deﬁned by a translucent pixelised bamboo interface. Semicircular terrace theatres on the hillside end the extend-ing contours to provide group activity spaces of varying scale. These altogether form a settlement-like space where people can perceive the companion activities, natural scenery and the open, interactive and sharing campsite atmosphere.

The village library consists of a reception area facing the campsite entrance and a reading room facing the village road. As the contours rapidly change, two triangle spaces on half-layer dif- ferential elevations are connected by stairs. Wooden bookshelves, platforms and furniture in the reading room are designed accord- ing to children’s scale. A transparent façade allows the internal activities to be seen from the outside, like an open music box. In less than one year of operation, the camp site has hosted two teen camps, four youth camps and two expedition camps, supporting 439 Raleigh team members for their non-proﬁt rural practice areas and serving 16 community-aided construction pro-grammes and eight environment protection programmes.Apart from Raleigh activities, the camp site also supports other non- proﬁt organisations by ofering services to the local community, and serves as an activity centre for the local community.

Project Information

Project Name: Raleigh Campsite

Architect: Zhang Zhenhui, China

Location: Zhenfeng County, Guizhou Province, China