House Of Steps

HOUSE OF STEPS

Chaoffice

House Of Steps
Streetview in village. Image © Zhi Cheng

ARCHITECTS
Chaoffice

CLIENT
Meng Li

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Zhi Cheng

MANUFACTURERS
Dongfang Jingran Building Decoration, Dongfanggang International Wood Industry Co.ltd.

DESIGN TEAM
Zhi Cheng, Youjiang Zhang, Song Amy

PHOTOGRAPHS
Zhi Cheng ,Yumeng Zhu

AREA
156 m²

YEAR
2020

LOCATION
Beijing, China

CATEGORY
Houses

House Of Steps
The entrance and the signbox. Image © Zhi Cheng

The project site is located in a small village within the Taihang Mountains 70 kilometers from Beijing.

The village is spread from the bottom of a valley to the slopes, and the yard located nearly at the highest point.

According to local folklore, a castle once stood above the village, built during the Yuan Dynasty.

House Of Steps
The entrance hall. Image © Yumeng Zhu
House Of Steps
The main living room. Image © Yumeng Zhu

This is how the village’s name, meaning “under fortress” came to be,and as you look back you find yourself gazing upon beautiful Da’an Mountain and the Zhaitang Valley. Both of which have been left unchanged for millions of years.

The building would not to be an invention. In essence, the existing scale, shape, and color together make the building merge in with the background.At the same time, it acquires its own identity from small details of alienations.

House Of Steps
steps and platforms both inside and outside Perspective from main livingroom. Image © Zhi Cheng
House Of Steps
Kitchen countertop link to outside platform. Image © Yumeng Zhu

Although no physical evidence of the legendary castle can now be seen, we can still experience and imagine what the Mongolian solders would have experienced when occupying the site, their perspective still intact.

This experience becomes the starting point of our narrative. First of all, the distinction between indoor and outdoor, as well as the differences between rooms was all ignored.

House Of Steps
Sitting room. Image © Zhi Cheng
House Of Steps
Entrance lobby. Image © Zhi Cheng

The entire site transformed into a grand platform; an open, shared space. The hutong lies on the north side, with an open view to the south.

Parts of the platform rise up and parts drop down according to the variety of heights belonging to the neighbor southward, and this created a sort of “platform upon platform”.

House Of Steps
Steps lead to bedroom perspective from door of bedrooms. Image © Zhi Cheng
House Of Steps
Loft bedroom. Image © Zhi Cheng

As there are views on each corner of the site, the mountains themselves became a part of the building.

The entire space exists between unchanged ceiling and uneven ground. Variety in scale and shape help create distinct spaces, each providing its own feeling. platforms can be linked together using steps.

House Of Steps
Windows in the loft bedroom. Image © Zhi Cheng
House Of Steps
The yard outside main livingroom and view. Image © Yumeng Zhu

Larger steps, between 400mm and 800mm, transform into a “table” or “chair”. When one walks through or sits inside, it would not feel dissimilar to nesting in a cave within the mountains.

Contrasting this with the expansive views the site provides, the concept of “here and there, two mountains” appears.

House Of Steps
The yard in summer. Image © Zhi Cheng
House Of Steps
The concrete table in the yard. Image © Yumeng Zhu

In continuing the landscape, we tried to weaken the idea of “wall” as a boundary separating different rooms.

In actuality the shear wall combined with added storage space together form a very thick volume, standing between different spaces.

House Of Steps
Inside and outside of small sitting room. Image © Yumeng Zhu
House Of Steps
Steps and platforms in yards. Image © Yumeng Zhu

Simultaneously, due to local customs, windows open on the north wall are not allowed, so we made the top of the wall bend inward, creating a gap between the wall and eaves, following the roof line.

This window faces the hutong rather than the neighbors house and wind could then blow through the space, the bending wall helping to create a small environment underneath.

House Of Steps
The C room on top of the yard. Image © Yumeng Zhu
House Of Steps
The yard perspective from west to east. Image © Yumeng Zhu

As people sit inside facing the magnificent views, they can feel a sense of shelter, and at night, the light from within makes the gloomy hutong brighter.

House Of Steps
Streetview in village. Image © Zhi Cheng
House Of Steps
Streetview in village. Image © Zhi Cheng


House Of Steps
The mail living room and view outside window. Image © Zhi Cheng


House Of Steps
The entrance hall. Image © Yumeng Zhu
House Of Steps
The east end of the yard perspective from small sitting room. Image © Zhi Cheng
House Of Steps
steps and platforms both inside and outside Perspective from main livingroom. Image © Zhi Cheng
House Of Steps
The yard perspective from east to west. Image © Yumeng Zhu


House Of Steps
Streetview in village. Image © Yumeng Zhu
House Of Steps
Streetview in village. Image © Yumeng Zhu


House Of Steps
Streetview in village. Image © Zhi Cheng
House Of Steps
Steps lead to loft bedroom. Image © Zhi Cheng
House Of Steps
The corridor at east end of the builiding. Image © Zhi Cheng


House Of Steps
Model. Image Courtesy of Chaoffice
House Of Steps
Model. Image Courtesy of Chaoffice
House Of Steps
Model. Image Courtesy of Chaoffice


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Perspective section
House Of Steps
Perspective section


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Plan
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Master plan
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Perspective plan


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