Juanzong Apartment

Qinhuangdao, China

The Juanzong apartments adjacent to the Youyi Bay Main Square

Juanzong Apartment, situated at the southern entrance of a residential community, is surrounded by the community's public activity area. Located in Qinhuangdao City, approximately 260 kilometers from Beijing, it stands as one of the most popular coastal resort destinations near the capital. Over the past decade, the community has attracted numerous vacationers, digital nomads, and artists, drawn by its continuous hosting of various cultural and artistic activities.

Many residents here come in groups of families and friends, and a significant portion are freelancers looking to work and live for a period in this scenic seaside community. The ground floor of the Juanzong Apartment accommodates diverse businesses, including a restaurant, bakery, boutique, shoe shop, handcraft store, tea house, and children's bookstore, along with a corner pop-up store. This pop-up store, resembling a small showroom, can be rented to different vendors based on various holidays and community events. The triangular backyard features a raised pool area, doubling as an outdoor stage for hosting various activities and gatherings during winter.

The apartment has a large living room that can be defined as a "studio", with a width of 8 meters and a height of 4.5 meters, equipped with a balcony, an open kitchen and a dining table. Sofas and bookshelves surround the lounge area, and there is an extra-long corner workspace by the window. It is not only suitable for weekday art-making activities such as literature, painting and music, but can also accommodate weekend and festival salons. The ceiling of the living room is exposed fair-faced concrete, which we painted with a thin layer of white topcoat without applying putty, thus preserving the hard texture of the concrete. The concrete slab extends outside to form a balcony, giving order to the interior space on the facade.

Each unit's living room faces the square, while the bedrooms face the inner courtyard, offering different views on both sides. Between the living room and bedroom lies a 2.4-meter-wide foyer, serving as both an entrance space and a transition zone between the active and quiet areas. The bedrooms in each unit have a ceiling height of 3 meters, differing by 1.5 meters from the living room height. This height difference is utilized to integrate three unit types together, creating a unique one-unit-per-floor entrance experience.

We aim to give the apartment a simple and modern image, opting for light green precast terrazzo panels with green mineral as the primary aggregate for the façade material. Terrazzo is a versatile material that requires repeated experimentation with the size, type, and color of aggregates to achieve optimal visual effects at various viewing distances.

The L-shaped apartment is located in the community public activity area, with one side adjacent to the community's largest square

The apartment, hotel, and plazas of Youyi Bay

Juangzong Apartment as evening lights begin

Looking from the leisure square to the main square

The Juanzong apartment, the hotel, and the Youyi Bay main square

The main square enclosed by the apartment, the hotel, and the chapel of music is the core of public life in the Youyi Bay

The triangular backyard features a raised pool area, which can also serve as an outdoor stage during events

The large living room in the apartment, with its wide frontage and high ceilings, offers excellent views and natural lighting

The wide commercial arcade on the apartment's ground floor extends into the main square

The L-shaped layout of the apartment, along with the community roads, forms a peaceful triangular backyard

Looking from the foyer towards the living room

View of the square from the apartment living room, with sightlines through varying ceiling heights

The triangular staircase, illuminated with natural light, enhances the entryway experience of having one residence per floor

Everyday scenes of the apartment's ground floor retail arcade(After one year of completion)

Everyday scenes in the apartment (After one year of completion)

The triangular stairwell shapes the apartment's orientation towards the inner courtyard

Everyday scenes in the apartment (After one year of completion)

The apartment facade made of light green terrazzo slabs and glass looks very light

Everyday scenes in the apartment (After one year of completion)

The apartment facade made of light green terrazzo slabs and glass looks very light

Everyday scenes in the apartment (After one year of completion)

Bloque de viviendas

Arquitectos: genarchitects

Ubicación: Youyi Bay, Qinhuangdao, China
Año: 2023
Cliente: Aranya, VVYY Practice
Equipo: FAN Beilei, XUE Zhe, KONG Rui, YU Chenye, XUE Jun, ZHU Mingxi, QIAN Jia, ZHU Lingyun, PANG Yinlei, CHEN Xiaofan, WANG Shiyu, HUANG Wei, ZHAO Nan, HU Jizhang, WANG Xin, CHEN Xi, LI Jing
Structural Engineering: ZHANG Zhun, HU Xiaojie / AND Office
MEP Engineering: LIANG Ming, PAN Shen, WAN Huajun, LIU Jianping / SGIDI
Lighting Design: PANG Lei / Lumia Lighting Design
Facade Design: BRM Facade
Conceptual Landscape Design: genarchitects
Detailed Landscape Design: Aecom
Detailed Interior Construction Drawings: Shanghai Jinxi Construction Engineering co., ltd
Local Design Institute: Dalian Institute of Architectural Design&Research Co.,Ltd
Civil Construction: Jiangsu Jiangdu Construction Group Co., Ltd.
Interior Construction: Yuyi Decoration Engineering