The Mint Bureau Homestay

The project is located in Hanhonggou old village, Qinyuan County, Shanxi Province, China. The original three groups of dwellings on the base have been abandoned due to long-term uninhabited. It is said that it was the site of the Troops’ Bank of the Eighth Route Army during the Second World War, and hence the name of the new building.

The design evaluates the original buildings and adopts different strategies according to the original appearance and new functions: retaining the parts with good quality and obvious regional features, such as the gate and walls; The main house was renovated and transformed into hall and guest room on the basis of retaining the traditional characteristics of the original building; New built guest rooms, together with preserved and renovated buildings as well as the trees, reshape the site and space.

The main house adopts the traditional form, two-storeyed, with wall or brick wall and slope top. The new building is of flat roof, single-storeyed, with independent patio and roof platform. The facade is made of granitic plaster, and some parts are equipped with mosaic strips. Granitic plaster is a common facade technology in China in the 1980s, and mosaic is the exterior wall decoration material that can be seen everywhere in rural China. The architect hopes to give both technologies modernity through artistic use. New and old buildings are continuous in space and different in style, forming dialogue and symbiosis.

The interior style continues the logic of architecture. In the traditional form, the vernacular style is adopted in the interior of traditional bulding, and even the local traditional soil Kang is equipped. The interior style of the new building is modern, bold and refined. The new building as a homestay can bring economic income to the village and provide employment for local people.

Project info

Name: The Mint Bureau Homestay
Location: Hanhonggou Village, Qinyuan County, Shanxi Province, China
Owner: People’s Government of Qinyuan County
Architecture, interior and landscape design: 3andwich Deisgn / Hewei Studio (www.3andwichdesign.com
Principle architects: He Wei, Chen Long
Project architect: Liang Zhuyu
Design team: Sang Wanchen, Cao Shiqing, Liu Mingyang
Project consulting: Zhou Rong, Lian Yirui
On-site Representative: Liu Weidong
Design period: April – July 2019
Completion time: Aug. 2020
Site area: 960sqm
Building area: 540sqm
Photographer: Jin Weiqi, 3andwich Design