Mozhao Architects has added a furniture shop and tea house to a technology park in Shenzhen, in a series of six concrete blocks.
Living Art Pavilion was commissioned as part of an effort to increase the cultural offering and public outdoor spaces in the Quanzhi Technology innovation park in Shajing.

The pavilion sits between a main road to the north and a small row of trees to the south. Its irregular form was generated by a desire to create a connection with these trees while minimising sound from the road.
Mozhao Architects also drew on a traditional housing type in the local Shajing area, which features sloping roofs and courtyard spaces.

The furniture shop occupies four blocks and the tea house two, with the middle two blocks merging to create a large indoor space that provides an exhibition space for the shop. Jagged floor plans for each block create pockets of enclosed space, forming courtyards to the rear and small gardens at the front.

Full-height windows on both the north and south sides of the building provide views straight through to these green spaces.
A solid wall separates the tea house from the furniture shop. On either side the blocks, which appear distinct from the outside, blend into larger spaces that lead directly into one another.

"The pavilion, together with the commercial and artistic spaces on the ground floor of an adjacent office, creates a dynamic recreational space," said the architecture studio.
"A comfortable and pleasant pu...