YANGCHENG LAKE VILLAS IN SUZHOU

2019-06-11

Successfully reviving local architectural traditions does not have to slip into decorative folklore. The luxury villas at Yangcheng Lake near Suzhou stand for the aspirations of architects Lyndon Neri & Rossana Hu, subtly establishing a symbiosis between Chinese living traditions and international standards.

Chinese homeowners love traditional courtyards and have done so for at least 2500 years. Everyone here knows this type of home as Siheyuan. Several of these houses built close together formed a quarter – and together an entire city. However, Chinese real estate buyers in the 21st century also love globally successful architecture based on the Western style. The architects Lyndon Neri & Rossana Hu from Shanghai attempted a symbiosis of Western and Eastern building traditions when they created a residential estate of 50 private homes designed to meet both requirements on the outskirts of Suzhou, a city with over a million inhabitants. For European observers, however, the success of this experiment is not immediately comprehensible. The white plastered upper floors rest on a massive base of grey bricks and look quite European. The two long rows of white country villas could just as easily stand on the Havel river in Berlin or on a Dutch canal.

Traditional Chinese designs

In accordance with the Chinese building tradition, the protected inner courtyards only result from the arrangement of the individual buildings next to each other. The outer zones and the jetties in the lake in front also reflect designs from traditional Chinese horticulture – and this is particularly important in Suzhou. The centre of the ancient city is crossed by numerous historic canals. It offers parks protected by World Heritage status and has always celebrated a special relationship to water. Today, Suzhou is a boomtown on the high-speed railway line between Shanghai and Beijing as well as a preferred location for international corporations. In this case, the direct connection of these villas to the “Yangcheng Lake” is more than an attractive building ingredient. They are part of the special atmosphere of the place. The materials of the villas also tie in with traditions. The brickwork on the base floor, for example, is simply grey to European observers. However, Chinese who are familiar with the area recognize in it the building material that has been preferred in their region for thousands of years.

The public on the ground floor

Inside the houses, delicate surfaces and carefully executed details dominate – completed with the best that the German construction supplier industry has to offer in terms of equipment – from fittings to doors. Here too, however, there are always details that mediate between the building traditions. The Chinese influence becomes particularly clear in the analysis of the floor plans. The basement contains functional areas, a technical room and the maid's quarters. All the “public” functions of the house are concentrated on the ground floor and surrounded by brickwork. The upper floor, on the other hand, is consistently reserved for private use. The “public” living room or the protected inner courtyard serve primarily representative purposes and the entertaining of guests. A second and truly private living area is located on the upper floor between the bedrooms.

This is where the actual family life takes place. The fact that the 600 square metre villas offer no children's room at all or only one, depending on the variant, was originally due to the former “one-child policy”. Meanwhile, however, the families of the up-and-coming Chinese middle class are becoming similar to those in many highly developed Western states in this respect as well and are only too happy to voluntarily limit themselves to a single child.

Hörmann expertise:

Top Security steel entrance doors

The play of materiality and colour is one of the quality features of this residential estate. The building is characterised by the white plaster of the upper floor, corresponding to warm wood, and the greyish bricks typical of the region and the full glazing of the ground floor. The floor -to-ceiling entrance doors made of Hörmann sheet steel match the colour of the anthracite-coloured mullion and transom construction of the glass facade and provide access to the 50 villas. Depending on the floor plan, they are flanked by fixed glass side elements. The doors consist of two leaves: the normal entrance door and an additional fixed side part that can be opened if required. The door leaves consist of steel sheets and a core insulation of PU rigid foam, which ensures an insulation value of UD = 1.7 W/(m2·K). For a high level of burglary protection, the villas are equipped with doors with particularly effective break-in-resistant security equipment. To emphasise the elegance of the buildings, the architects chose simple, elongated door handles made of stainless steel. Top Security entrance doors are only available on the Asian market.