Architcture practice.  LUO Studio has extended the abandoned foundations and concrete columns of a residential project with a timber-framed upper storey to create a community centre in Yuanheguan, China.
Perforated brick wraps the lower storey of the village's Party and Public Service Centre, which includes offices and conference spaces.

Located in Hubei province, the village of Yuanheguan sits close to the entrance to the Wudang Mountains, and is undergoing rapid development for tourism.
With the site of the former village committee office proposed for a hotel development, it became urgent to relocate these services to a new building in a short space of time.

To achieve this, LUO Studio recommended the use of an abandoned residential plot at the intersection of two busy streets where the construction of a home had begun but been placed indefinitely on hold. "The subdistrict office and the village committee agreed to reuse and transform the plot, hoping to reshape the built landscape along the streets and activate the dilapidated western area of the village," said the studio.

After the architects assessed the existing structure's high concrete base and columns, it was decided to adopt a timber framework for the upper level to minimise its load.
The layout of the existing columns was too wide for timber to span above.

A series of "clustered columns" formed by bundles of wooden pillars were added to provide additional support.
The ground floor is surr...