ACRC sloping-roof art museum brings ancient Chinese city to life

revive the ancient city with a new art museum and a public square

overlooking the xu wei art museum, you can clearly perceive the architectural texture of the surrounding small-scale traditional dwellings

images of lei tantan, jia fang, zhang chenfan and jiang lanlan

longitudinal gardening with five entrances and open

Taking inspiration from the combination of large spaces of the former Shaoxing machine tool factory and adopting the construction logic of “five-entry longitudinal modeling and unequal triple horizontal of herringbone slope”, the team at ACRC completed the distinctive massing of the xu wei art museum. the two floors of five entrances on the east and west sides serve as the main exhibition space; the middle floor extends over two floors, opening the longitudinal model with five entrances; and the ground floor is a foyer crossing north and south, while the common room and small temporary conference room are located on the second floor. the shared space on the upper and lower floors also serves as a transfer hub between the exhibition halls on both sides. in addition, an interior courtyard has been arranged in different flat floors on the east and west sides, which reasonably separates the volume of space from the exhibition hall and improves interior permeability.

two herringbone slopes, one large and one small, are “raised” on the east and west sides of the square

black slices and superior consistency

besides the spatial treatment, the contemporary expression of the traditional shaoxing style is also reflected in the refined selection of materials: the black metal texture extends from the roof with the herringbone house to the end of the second floor on the east sides and west, and the solid walls of white granite are chosen above the second story in a north-south direction; the first floor is concave on four sides for repeated coating of the unified texture of the herringbone cross slope, the curtain wall is processed locally according to the function and unified modulus, and the gray granite and curtain wall materials are unified. the building features typical black, white and gray tones as a whole, while the local white space and triple herringbone slope contour lines reveal the architects’ contemporary landscape intention.

horizontal modeling of unequal triple rafter slopes mitigates alienation from large-scale space itself

the green place of the vine

located on the south side of the venue, the Place de la Vigne Verte connects the art museum on the north side with the study of the green vine on the south side, paving the way for the atmosphere of the front yard, and serves as an inter- Visitor center time for the crowd distribution function. the square continues the logic of the construction of the art museum and “raises” two herringbone slopes respectively on the east and west sides: the west side is slightly raised to enclose the square, while the east side is slightly higher.

with the help of a local indentation, the volume of the reception center is cleverly hidden under the herringbone slopes. the square as a whole is paved with dark stone, and the west side creates a scene of running water with the help of a slope. Meanwhile, an original ‘xu wei statue’ stands on the southwest side of the art museum and on the northeast side of the slope, making it the visual center of the square and the perspective of the museum of art. the step-shaped frame at the start of the eastern slope serves as an auditorium to provide a suitable place for distribution and gathering.

The statue of xu wei stands on the southwest side of the art museum

the xu wei art museum is gradually integrating into local community life

in the opposite view of the old wall and apartment buildings, you can see qingteng square below (the visitor center)

the visitor center is hidden under the view of the herringbone slope

water landscape in qingteng square

the west facing main courtyard on the first floor is primarily for viewing

the atrium on the second floor offers multiple use scenarios such as rest, assemblage, visualization and photography

the design of the second floor north-south curtain wall connects the texture of the ancient city, making the city’s changing appearance a new exhibition content

project information:

Last name: xu wei art museum and green vine square
an architectural firm: ACRC, the Architectural Design and Research Institute of Zhejiang University

main architect: hu huifeng

group project: hu huifeng, jiang lanlan, zhang chenfan, han lifan, zhu jinyun and li pengfei

structure: zhang jie, chen xu, lv junfeng, ding ziwen, shen zeping and chen xiaodong

the water: yi jiasong and shao yuran

HVAC: pan dahong and li yongmei

electric: zhang wei, yu liang and weak zhizhi

running: lin hua, ye minjie and yang guozhong

countryside: wu weiling, wang jietao, wu di, zhu jing, ao dandan, il ying, and lin teng

interior: chu ran, liu wanlin, wang junzheng and mei wenbin

exposure: zhao tongqing, liang shuang, chen wei, huang shizhen and sun xiaotong

lighting: wang xiaodong, zhao yanqiu, fu dongming, feng baile and wu xuhui

curtain wall: shi jiongjiong, wang jieneng, duan yuzhuang and zhang jie

enclosure of the foundation pit: xu quanbiao and zeng kai

bim design: zhang shunjin, ren wei, yan yitao and wang qibo

CPE: fang chaojun, wang qing, miao sai, bei sijia, li yanqi and li chen

customer: shaoxing cultural tourism group

manufacturer: zhejiang qinye construction engineering group co., ltd.

site: 33 houguan way, yuechen district, shaoxing, zhejiang province

area (square meter): 9854.17

building area (square meter): 8504.14

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edited by: myrto katsikopoulou | design boom