MAT office's courtyard in beijing is fenced by green steel canopy imitating trees

located in qianfuxiang, a quiet hutong area in beijing’s historical district, the courtyard project developed by MAT office redefines the space boundary and reestablishes a continuous outline of the existing apartment building. branch-shaped steel panel forms the line and creates two magnified canopies at the entrance to the house and the outdoor recreational space for the young dwellers.

the canopy at the entrance
all photos by kangshuo tang

MAT office has created a continuous 3-meter-wide green line extending from the outer wall of the house to the courtyard — as a result, it shapes two areas, a private one for leisure and a public one for commercial use. the inner courtyard is equipped with wooden seats and table, surrounding the scholar tree growing in the center of the slot.

branch-shaped panel fence

‘we are trying to build a special atmosphere at this tree courtyard, with its natural and spatial environment,’ explains the design team. ‘we hope to create a bright and vivid lifestyle for the young under the old chinese scholar tree by redefining the interface as well as the relative public activities.’

lounge area

reading space

the canopy creates a playful pattern on the ground

courtyard panorama

space under the tree

table under the tree

terrace view

a cartoon

ground floor plan

exploded axonometry

project info:

name: tree courtyard youth community

client: beijing port

location: no.12 qianfuxiang, dongcheng district, beijing

architects: MAT office

team: miao zhang, kangshuo tang, feiyu wang, youpeng liu, yiqian wang, wenhao yang

built area: 1.230 sqm

materials: steel panel, granite, sintered bricks, ceramic pellets

completion: 2018.05

photography: kangshuo tang

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