Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
Griffin Enright Architects were responsible for creating a group of residences located on an island by a new urban lake in Chengdu, China, following the local row house typology but having in mind to provide lakeside views while also creating garden courtyards.
Their project was short-listed for a 2021 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Rethinking the row house typology, each of the three villa types is pinched at their center to create new exterior courtyards and internal pathways, framing views of the natural surroundings. In each villa, the movement through the space is choreographed in relation to swerving skylights that bring natural light into the interiors.
The major axis of the house links the street side with the lakeside along a curving spine that hides and then reveals the view to the lake.
At each shift off the path, a view is framed, or a room with a courtyard is discovered.
These private garden courtyards are planted with local plants and ground cover and contribute to the ecology of the lake while maintaining the porous condition of the site as a means of sustainability.
The plant materials contribute to a local ecology in the community as well as the larger environment of the new city.
The garden and house are designed as an integrated whole, allowing the house to engage with its environment. The deformation of the main spine of the house defines public and private spaces, divides spaces by creating pathways, and directs views of the lakes and courtyard.
The form of the villas is the result of these deformations and their corollary narrative intent.
Together, the multiple villa types combine to create a new take on the semi-urban townhouse typology, one that is adaptable to a hybrid site with dense housing in an organic framework.
Project: Luxe Lakes
Architects: Griffin Enright Architects
Client: Chengdu Wide Horizon Investments
Contractor: Chengdu Wide Horizon Investments
Photographers: Arch_exist
