ARCHITECT Haeccity Studio Architecture
Haeccity Studio Architecture has recently completed a single-family home that integrates a classical Chinese residential composition with state-of-the-art construction. The location, in Richmond, BC, is appropriate?with an established East Asian demographic, the residence poetically responds to the cultural intersection of East meeting West.
Photo Credit: Ema Peter
Haeccity co-founder Shirley Shen speaks to this theme as an expression of the clients? personal story as Chinese scholars and residents of the neighbourhood for nearly fifty years: ?The strong north-south axis and progression through space along the cardinal line comes from a completely eastern perspective, but the architectural language is of its current time and place.? The layout intentionally alludes to some of the fundamental principles of feng shui and the siheyuan courtyard typology, which carries a 2,000 year history. Essentially a covered courtyard surrounded by buildings on four sides, the building borrows from a traditional hierarchy in the layering of spaces. A guest is received at the south end where the foyer is separated from the living space, and invited northwards should they share enough intimacy. Furthest north is private space reserved for the head of the household.
Photo Credit: Ema Peter

?Because the clients have a large extended family and regularly receive visitors, we wanted to think of it more as a village than a hou...