Dialogue with Nature — Commune STORE
Dialogue with Nature — Commune STORE
Dialogue with Nature — Commune STORE
Dialogue with Nature — Commune STORE
Dialogue with Nature — Commune STORE
Dialogue with Nature — Commune STORE
Dialogue with Nature — Commune STORE
Dialogue with Nature — Commune STORE
Bamboo forests, terraced rice paddies and misty mountains encircle Houyuan Village in Northern Fujian. In this magical setting, Atelier Global Limited has transformed an abandoned school where generations of townsfolk were educated into a vital community hub. As the only public building in the village, the site is a fulcrum of memories and emotions. To respect the past while bridging to the future, the team aimed to preserve as much of the old building as it could. In this farming society, honouring local heritage means celebrating the village rice culture — and Commune STORE also embraces programming to protect the terraced ecosystem and the tradition of rice farming by investing in local culture and exploring rice cultivation techniques.
In adapting the site, Atelier Global made sure not to excessively disturb the landscape and surrounding rice paddies. In fact, the firm integrated six 60-year-old metasequoia trees into the central courtyard and salvaged the moss that was still growing strong. It also maintained the core layout of the complex — three buildings connected by a continuous roof — and every stone wall that could be restored with simple jointing.
In tune with the ethos of the project, Atelier Global hired local labourers for construction (and post-project), and it preserved the existing wall-paintings that had been made by past school children. Its main intervention was on the roof: Reinforced with steel, the new majestically swooped form softens the original building and doubles as a lookout zone that merges indoors and out. All of the original roof’s wooden beams and boards were repurposed as doors, panels and other interior furniture.
Outside, the terraced landscaping and an infinity pool — new yet time-honoured features — draw the eye out toward the local landmark, Spoon-Shaped Hill, in the distance.
Commune STORE harnesses the power of a community while evolving a meaningful place of memory into a piece of infrastructure that can serve future generations. And it does so on a site where this type of collective investment has been and will always be part of the cultural and ecological fabric.
Team: Frankie Lui and Chao Cai
In China’s Houyuan Village, Atelier Global Limited has transformed an abandoned school where generations of townsfolk were educated into a vital community hub.
