The Wujiang District of Suzhou, in Jiangsu Province, China, dates back to 909 A.D. To transcend its cramped locale — a maze of waterways and narrow streets — Dedang Design rose above it. Bache Community Centre is a steel-frame structure that floats atop a sunken courtyard. The interior space comprises play areas, galleries and a reading nook, all bathed in natural light and surrounded by twisty stairways that access a rooftop terrace. A gingko tree in the courtyard grows upward through a central glassed-in atrium, symbolically connecting the building’s three levels.
Team: Junfeng Wang and Zheng Gu with Wenliang Sun, Yuqiong Yang, Zhangjin Liu, Ruonan Fan and Liang Li
The Bache Community Centre floats serenely atop a sunken courtyard in the Wujiang District of Suzhou, China.