JC Structure transforms derelict dormitory into plant-filled house

JC Structure has transformed a 90-year-old dormitory constructing in Taipei into a recent household house, to function a blueprint for reviving comparable uncared for historic properties all through town.

The 223-square-metre constructing, now named Dwelling Lab, was purchased by JC Structure from the Nationwide Taiwan College.

It was constructed greater than 90 years in the past when Taiwan was below Japanese rule however through the years it has undergone vital alterations and had largely been used as a dormitory. Ultimately, it fell right into a state of disrepair and had no bogs, lacking flooring and crumbling partitions.

The apply got down to remodel the constructing into a snug house that catered to the wants of a contemporary household whereas preserving the constructing’s layers of historical past.

“Our technique is to convey again the standard craftsmanship, and supplies and revive the historic previous for modern-day residing,” defined the apply.

“Starting from the period the place the Japanese occupied, to improvement after the institution of the Taiwanese authorities, to the 10-year famine that occurred, we left traces of all these historic occasions within the design.”

These historic references embody rebuilding the house’s Japanese hinko wooden window-frames and utilizing salvaged damaged marble to restore areas of the ground. Vines that grew throughout the yard have additionally been re-established.

New additions, such because the bright-red, sliding entrance door on the house’s entrance and glossy lights throughout the ceiling, are meant to intentionally distinction with the older components of the constructing.

“Analysing the approach to life of contemporary households after which trying to comprise it in a historic residing house is like studying to speak to elders,” defined the architects.

“There are issues that must be preserved, and issues that must be modified. As a substitute of simply dwelling on the previous, it’s our aim to convey historical past ahead into the long run.”

A six-metre-long wall on the home’s entrance separates the communal areas from the non-public areas. Bedrooms are designated to the unique a part of the home, whereas the kitchen and lounge are positioned in a more moderen portion of the constructing that was added within the 1950s.

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Glass partitions and ceilings open up the inside to the house’s verdant grounds, blurring the boundaries between indoor and outside house.

The home’s open design was created with the inhabitants’ youngsters in thoughts, offering house for them to leap and run freely.

“The association of areas is what creates connections and interactions,” added the apply.

“The greenery performs a task in creating spatial fluidity the place the daylight and wind circulate by way of it.”

By retaining a lot of the prevailing constructing and making minimal interventions, JC Structure was in a position to reduce the development time to only six months and maintain the undertaking’s price range low.

Because of this, the apply thinks it might be reasonably priced to renovate and sub-lease transformed buildings corresponding to this to households throughout town.

“This new housing mannequin demonstrates a brand new risk inside the dense residential urbanisation of Taipei metropolis,” it defined.

“Not solely does it attempt to revitalise an extended forgotten and left-over house, but in addition highlights a brand new alternative of residing situations for younger generations and households,” the apply continued.

“Our want and ambition is to assist a brand new housing risk for future generations.”

Dwelling Lab is shortlisted in the home inside class of the 2019 Dezeen Awards. Different contenders embody a Victorian-era residence in Toronto by StudioAC and a tiny vacation house within the Netherlands by i29.