Articles by Xiaohang Hou

Maozhou River is the largest waterbody system in Shenzhen, flowing through Baoan and Guangming districts. Along the waterway are mostly industrial areas, among which Guangming district is most well-known for being a novel town for hi-tech industries. The Left Bank Science and Technology Park is situated at the Guangming Section of Maozhou River, making it one of the most important public nodes along the 12.8km spanning Maozhou River Greenlane Project. The site is perpendicularly divided by two urban highways. The triangular plot is scattered with temporary storage warehouse. Together with the hardened ground surface, the presence of water is almost unperceivable from the site. What should have been a great waterfront has become a void separating the city and the water.

The project is located in a transformed industrial park called STATION. The entire zone in 2021 right after COVID-19 rapidly has become a hot spot for families, youngsters, and creative minds. In the heart of STATION, there is a rice noodle bar-YUNFEN-that aims to bring a fresh and playful experience to customers through the interior and branding design.

Zhongshan Kaiyin Nursery School is located in Kai Yin Hao Yuan, Zhongshan, occupying the southeast corner of the public club area. This school is set up for children aged 0-3. Around 5 classrooms, it is equipped with a game room, reception room, kitchen, medical room, teacher’s lounge, multimedia room, and other supporting facilities. Although the residential area built in early 2000 is still bathed in an intimate environment with sunshine and flowing water, the public club area in the core location has already shown a state of decay and urgently needs to be updated. The introduction of the nursery school is a starting attempt.

Recently, a service buildings group of Nantong Urban Agricultural Park has been completed by Z-ONE Architects (a newly emerging studio that specializes in experimental architectural practice in rural China; established in 2020). The project is located in the northern suburb of Nantong, Jiangsu, China, with a total construction area of 4552.8m². It took four months from concept design to final completion.

The project is the new store of the new-Chinese-style dessert brand “Zolaism” in Aranya, Qinhuangdao, one of the most popular seaside resort communities sitting 3-4 hours drive from the central city of Beijing. Located in the plaza of the community, the site is an addition attached to the north side of the original building of cinema, facing the main road and featuring a wide field of view. The philosophy of the brand derives from the natural beauty of mountains and seas. Because of the brand concept and the humanistic atmosphere of the community by the sea, we drew inspiration from nature while respecting the spirit of the site and continuing the brand spirit.

In modern times, the street life with “people” as the core has gradually become a unique residential culture. The life wrapped in streets and courtyards is full of rich and vivid activity scenes and urban daily life. This project is located in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province. The design takes “street life” as the starting point. The design focuses on the linear space of streets and lanes, extends rich architectural techniques to “streets and lanes”, and then brings vitality to the space.