Apartment Reframed

Located in central Beijing, the scheme is part of a broader research project looking at strategies for adapting the pervasive modernist apartment blocks in East Asia for contemporary life. Similar apartments constructed during the boom years in the late 20th century now make up more than half of the housing stock in urban areas - their successful reuse for contemporary life will be critical for a liveable and sustainable future.

These modernist apartments are characterized by uniform and rigid layouts, tightly fitting the minimal space requirements of the omnipresent one-child family. Looking to accommodate the much wider diversity of contemporary households and lifestyles, our scheme tests the rational re-allocation of spaces for a retired couple with frequently visiting grandchildren.

Based on observations of the client’s daily life, we resized the various rooms based on the intensity of use to create a large living space half the size of the apartment, a compact bedroom a quarter the size of the apartment, and an even smaller guest bedroom/study. In reaction to the relentless array of small and identical windows, we carefully framed each to create different views of the world outside.