Shared Living, Shared Growth
The project explores how Tibetan traditional architecture could be reinterpreted into a local, culturally rooted “winery,” creating new ideas and values while allowing construction activities and spatial design to naturally generate local social significance.
Perched at 2,720 meters among sacred peaks, the project restores, transforms and extends a historic Tibetan dwelling. The site presented significant construction challenges.The team used Unreal Engine (UE) as a tool, while chief architect Wang Jianfeng resided on-site, immersing himself in local life to explore the interdependence of people and environment. The construction relied on familiar local materials and the expertise of village artisans, not only resulting in a deeply contextual architectural approach but also creating participatory opportunities and income for villagers.
The new additions, growing from the original site layout, combine with the old building to form multi-dimensional public spaces. The mountain-facing extended terrace becomes a shared ground for daily interaction between the winery and villagers, as well as a medium for cultural exchange. The sunken courtyard—once a cattle pen—now spontaneously becomes a stage for villagers and visitors dancing Guozhuang together. Overlooking the cliff, the tasting room, perforated brick walls, water reflections, and preserved trees compose a poetic sanctuary shaped by light and wind. Birds nest in the hollow bricks, turning the façade into a living surface. The winery stands as a narrative vessel of coexistence between humans and nature.
Walls in Time, Mood in Space
The design treasures the old building’s memory, softly weaving new traces into its fabric.
White—extended from original walls—unifies old and new. Weathered surfaces converse with pure new walls, reshaping spatial layers. This dialogue forms a textured timeline that shifts with light and season, quietly conveying emotion.
The new volume gently envelops the old house, creating a restrained white composition. Materials from different eras enrich the ensemble, adding depth and time.
Everyday Materials Reinterpreting Sacred Beliefs, Natural Elements Reconstructing Spiritual Space
The sanctuary space and incense burner were preserved, undergoing only restoration, cleaning, and lighting redesign. Local hollow bricks reinterpret the traditional scripture wall, linking old and new.
This “empty scripture wall” turns physical texts into poetic space. Emptiness opens space for imagination. The play of light and landscape through voids composes a living scripture, with shifting shadows inscribing time and spirit.
At the terrace’s edge, bricks are set at 45 degrees, echoing the Tibetan eternal knot.
Old pots embedded in the walls subtly reference the mandala in thangkas.
Through ordinary materials, the sacred is expressed in the language of everyday life—returning faith to an intimate, human scale.
Circular Construction
During the renovation, elements dismantled from the old building—stairs, doors and windows, flooring, tiles, stoves, farm tools, household utensils, and furniture—were repurposed, given new functions, and sustainably reincorporated into the new additions , reducing costs while weaving memories of past lives into today’s spaces.
The wine cellar and workshop were converted from the original grain storage. The rammed-earth walls and local climate naturally maintain ideal winemaking temperatures, eliminating the need for mechanical temperature control and reducing energy consumption. The preserved timber-and-earth framework creates a generous, culturally rooted space that serves as both a wine cellar and a gallery.
