People's Architecture Office

Shangwei Village Plugin Houses were transformed from houses that were built several hundred years ago and had been abandoned for decades as a result of disinvestment. Rapid urbanization of the surrounding areas of Shenzhen has turned villages like Shangwei into urban villages, or rural islands encircled by new developments. Half of the properties in Shangwei have lain abandoned as villagers left in search of better living in neighbouring areas.

The local government – the Shangwei Village Cooperative – has been exploring ways to support a community of local artists and craftsmen that has recently taken root in the village. With the support of the Leping Foundation and Future Plus (a local non-profit organization), the government initiated a pilot project in partnership with People’s Architecture Office.

It is the responsibility of the village government to renovate uninhabitable properties including those where roofs have collapsed. However, it is a challenging task to carry out the renovation work without affecting adjacent structures.

The Plugin House is a solution to this challenge. With the original structure preserved, a new structure is built inside the house.

The Plugin House uses a modular building system of prefabricated panels. With structural connections integrated into each panel, a Plugin House can be built by unskilled workers with one single tool in less than a day.

Industrial production allows the use of high quality materials that help enhance the energy efficiency of buildings, while economies of scale allows Plugin Houses to be offered at a low price.

Plugin panels are mass produced but a Plugin House can be customized to fit a particular site. The Huang Family Plugin House fits into a space of 15sqm. As part of the original roof of the house remains, the new structure can also help to reinforce the structure of the original house.

The bedroom is built on the mezzanine level with a protruding window, which provides both additional space and a panoramic view of the village.

A skylight allows natural daylight to penetrate.

The Fang Family Plugin House is bigger in size. This 20sqm house features a clerestory window facing south, which directs daylight to the bedroom at the rear of the house.

In addition to the Plugin House system, high efficiency mini-split heating and cooling units, modern kitchens and composting toilet systems are introduced to the two Plugin Houses to improve the residents’ quality of life.

The Courtyard House Plugin is an award winning prefabricated modular system for urban regeneration. Adopting a house-within-a-house approach, the system offers an inexpensive alternative to demolition of old houses.

The Courtyard House Plugin is the main feature of the Dashilar Project, an initiative aiming at upgrading an important neighbourhood in the historic core of Beijing.

Dashilar is characterized by narrow alleys called Hutongs and old courtyard houses. The neighborhood has resisted change and has an unspoilt charm. It however lacks infrastructure such as sewage lines and buildings lack insulation.

To resolve the dilemma of how to preserve the old houses while improving the residents’ quality of life, People’s Architecture Office developed a proprietary prefabricated panel made of a composite that is pre-fitted with structure, insulation, wiring, plumbing, windows, doors, interior and exterior finishes. And in one year’s time, it turned the experimental prototype into a systematic solution that can be applied across Dashilar. So far, 15 Plugins have been completed.

The panels are lightweight, easy to install and dismantle, and inexpensive to ship. They can be snapped and locked together with a single hex wrench. The entire Plugin structure, which can be assembled by a few unskilled workers in one day, is well-sealed and with good insulation that reduces energy consumption by about 33%. The Plugin is about half the cost of renovating an old house and about one-fifth the cost of building a new courtyard house.

The Courtyard House Plugin is designed for derelict and unoccupied properties. It is a solution for local residents who do not want to have their houses rebuilt but seek to improve their quality of living. Residents who use the Plugin system are offered a subsidy as an incentive for investing in their own properties.

Many old districts in China are being torn down, forcing people to leave their homes, leading to a disruption of their social ties in their neighbourhoods and severance of the last link to parts of the history of these areas.

The Courtyard House Plugin is a solution that brings long-term benefits to residents and society at large. Unlike profit-driven development, the Plugin allows individuals to create their own high energy efficiency infrastructures and improve their quality of life without tearing down old houses.

Investment by local residents is more effective in helping Dashilar achieve sustainable development.

The People’s Station is a cultural centre designed to reinvigorate the Kwan-Yen district of Yantai. The building is situated just beyond the edge of Yantai’s business district.

With large open entryways, semi-outdoor areas and sections lifted above the ground, the building acts as a nexus of activity that attracts people to explore the historic core of the city.

The project had a very tight schedule. With the use of our proprietary prefabricated system, the People’s Station was conceived and built in three months.

The interior of the People’s Station features a big event hall that is flooded with natural daylight from the pyramidal clerestory windows.

The exhibition space expands upwards and diagonally towards the staggered second and third floors where visitors will find a lounge, a bookstore and a cinema.

Terraces on each level offer elevated views of the surrounding historic buildings and the sea.

On the ground floor are appendages including the People’s Canopy and Tricycle Houses.

The expandable, accordion-style Tricycle Houses can be attached to the building to increase its footprint.

The People’s Canopy and Tricycle Houses can also be detached from the People’s Station. Operating like satellites, they enable People’s Station’s cultural projects to reach out to remote communities in Yantai.

Titled “Mass Interventions”, the inaugural event of the People’s Station is a retrospective exhibition of the design work of People’s Architecture Office. The building embodies the exemplary projects launched by the Office over the past seven years. They include the People’s Canopy, the Plugin Prefabricated System and the Tricycle House.

The complex is designed to bring vibrancy to Yantai and strengthen community bonding within the city.