“The Third Space” / Atelier Li Xinggang


© Guangyuan Zhang

© Guangyuan Zhang
  • Architects: Atelier Li Xinggang
  • Location: Tangshan, Hebei, China
  • Lead Architects: Xinggang Li, Bangbao Fu, Peng Sun, X iaoyu Zhao, Zeyang Tan, Yiting Zhang
  • Structure: Fukui Zhang, Wenhua Kong
  • Area: 88011.0 m2
  • Project Year: 2015
  • Photographs: Guangyuan Zhang, Xinggang Li, Peng Sun

© Guangyuan Zhang

© Guangyuan Zhang

“The Third Space” is located in the prosperous North Jianshe Road, of which the east side is next to north-south parallel rows of workers’ house. The direction, layout, the volume and the shape of tower and podium are nearly all determined by the calculation of sunlight in order to fulfill the rigorous sunlight standard. Two parallel 100 meters high slab-type building are rotated by a certain degree along the direction of the incoming southwest sunlight and then face southeast with the roof of the podium cut into a zigzag shape leaving a ribbon shape garden in the east side.


© Xinggang Li

© Xinggang Li

“The Third Space” complex tries to convey a kind of image of a three dimensional city settlement extends to the sky with 76 vertical stacked villas in the city. The floor slabs in usually flat in “Standard floor” in this project are stacked with staggered structural arrangement and thus form continuous increase of height level in each unit like geometric artificial terraces containing the transition of functions from the public to the private with the inhabitants climb and cross in the terraces, feeling the quiet atmosphere forming in the continuous spatial transitions.


© Guangyuan Zhang

© Guangyuan Zhang

Collection and media space are formed into the shape of houses on the slope. Pavilion houses with different size, shapes and direction are all transferred to the elevation in order to take in the city views and serve as several lively platforms of life open to the city thus becoming a symbol of dense vertical arranged “city settlement”. The real verdant courtyard is introduced into the top units with the help of the roof and thus creates a different feeling of height than that in the common villa.


© Xinggang Li

© Xinggang Li

Section

Section

© Xinggang Li

© Xinggang Li

All the duplex apartment units are stacked vertically with outdoor pavilions of different sizes and directions cantilevered in the corresponding elevation, taking in the city and nature view below and far away and becoming a new landscape in the city.


© Guangyuan Zhang

© Guangyuan Zhang

Detail of South Elevation

Detail of South Elevation

© Peng Sun

© Peng Sun

Detail of North Elevation

Detail of North Elevation