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Earth, water, light and air: Shanshui Firewood Garden brings it all together beautifully in a 1,100-square-metre tearoom in Sichuan. Designed by MIX Architecture, the building comprises four rectangular huts, which pinwheel around a central pond. The exterior cladding — red sandstone in a brickweave pattern — evokes local vernacular design, and the interior amenities, like the café and reading room, offer framed views onto a nearby bamboo forest. The central pond is surrounded by what the architects call “hollow walls”: rows upon rows of mottled firewood, suspended from the eaves by cables, which sway in the breeze and cast shadows onto the still water.

Team: Suning Zhou with Ke Yang, Qian Shi, Ziye Wu, Tao Tang and Libin Lin

Award of Merit: Buildings Over 1,000SqM
Shanshui Firewood Garden

Earth, water, light and air: Shanshui Firewood Garden brings it all together beautifully in a 1,100-square-metre tearoom in Sichuan.

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2014
Award of MeritBuildings Over 1,000SqM
Location
Valencia, Spain
Firm
Israel Alba, Madrid
Team
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2015
WinnerBuildings Over 1,000SqM
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Firm
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2023
Winner + People’s ChoiceBuildings Over 1,000SqM
Location
Toronto, Canada
Firm
Shim-Sutcliffe Architects, Toronto, Canada