thinking over the renovation concept of beijing university of civil engineering and architecture part, c+ architects not only took care of the building itself, but also reviewed the relationship between the building and its context. teaching building no.5 is located on the west side of the campus and is surrounded by small green garden with a fountain. while transforming the inner space of the building, the studio noticed that the garden is hidden and almost not used. to integrate the yard into the campus’ daily life, architects moved the building’s entrances to the southern facade to face the garden, which now can serve as a space for educational activities. 

c+ architects beijing architecture designboom
architects turned old building  into a bright orderly public space
all images © xia zhi

 

 

when the inner part of the building was dismantled, it turned out that the wooden structure of the roof and the gable was very charismatic. architects decided to keep the original look of the cabin — now a row of multiple arches forms an orderly space.

c+ architects turned old building of a university in beijing into a bright orderly public space
multiple arches form an orderly space

 

 

 

‘we used to have advanced mathematics classes in this teaching building and the class started at 8 o’clock in the morning’ recalls cheng yanchun, former student of the beijing university and the principal architect of c+architects. ‘I still remember that I woke up quite early just for saving a seat in the front of the class. at that moment I thought that the corridor in this building was very long and the light was trance’. the architect designed skylights to illumine the corridors, and now the building is filled with sunshine from early morning.

c+ architects beijing architecture designboom
skylights fill the building with sunshine from early morning

 

 

the problem with lack of public spaces for group activities was solved as well. architects divided the central section of the building into two parts. they created a second-level space with an amphitheater which can hold a variety of public events in the southern part, and a space for drawing review and discussion in the northern one. this solution has weakened the sense of a narrow corridor closeness and made the space more open and tridimensional. Furthermore, the corridors will serve as an exhibition space for students’ works and teaching achievements. New open space, high ceilings with original materials, natural lights — all these elements breathed a new life into the old building.

c+ architects turned old building of a university in beijing into a bright orderly public space
architects divided the central section of the building into two parts

 

 

c+ architects beijing architecture designboom
space for drawing review and discussion

 

 

c+ architects turned old building of a university in beijing into a bright orderly public space
architects kept the original look of the cabin

 

 

 

c+ architects beijing architecture designboom
second-level space with an amphitheater can hold a variety of public events

 

 

c+ architects beijing architecture designboom
southern part of the central section

 

 

c+ architects beijing architecture designboom
the building’s entrances are at the southern facade and face the garden
image ©  c+ architects

 

project info:

project design: c+ architects
architect in charge: cheng yanchun
project architects: cao pengfei, hao shimeng
design team: zhao chenzhang, wang junkai, zhang peng, zhu xuanyu, shi chunxue
construction drawing design: beijing jiangong architectural design and research institute
program: school renovation
area: 2300 sqm
photography: xia zhi

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: maria erman | designboom