People’s Architecture Office (PAO) was founded by He Zhe and his team back in 2010. It is situated in Beijing and it consisted of many talented architects, engineers and product designers. they all share a similar belief that design is for the people. The studio focuses on the social impact they can have through design. PAO took request from Mrs. Fan and rebuilt a rundown home in one of Beijing’s oldest neighborhood. They used prefabricated panels to create a modern and light-filled residence.
This residence is situated in the city’s Changchun Jie hutong neighborhood. The client Mrs. Fan, has lived her entire childhood in this run down house and only left when her parents decided to move to Urban areas. Mr.’s Fan wanted to joint them in urban areas but due to the expensive apartments there she couldn’t afford it so she decided to ask People’s Architecture Office to repair and modify her childhood home with their plugin panels.
Before heading into the designs the architects and designers scanned the area gaining new design ideas and opinions from the neighbors so they don’t end up creating something that blocks light or hinder the living experience of anyone from the society.
Most of the houses in hutong districts are run down and can’t support a roof in the long run. The architects of PAO developed a system of prefabricated panels as a temporary way to bring the ageing structures of the hutong districts up to modern standards. These were also made cheap.
The team made the Plug in house 30 times less than the cost of buying a typical apartment to help Mrs Fan and make her wish of coming back to her childhood house a reality. The architects also made it so the living standard and energy efficiency of a Plugin equals or exceeds that of new apartment. The architects replaced part of the existing building with the panels, and also extended the property to include a kitchen and a bathroom. The structural panels include insulation, interior and exterior surfaces. Metal hooks embedded in the edge of the panels can be turned with a key to allow them to clasp onto adjacent panels.
To ensure that the previously dark interior receives plenty of light, the team created a series of large openings in the structure. There is a large skylight in the slanted ceiling of the double-height living and a long window in the street facing wall. Another long window pierces the kitchen.
Hutongs usually have no sewage system, leaving public toilets as the only option, but the team added an off-the-grid composting toilet to the Plugin to make Mrs. Fan’s life more convenient. The small bathroom is also topped by a skylight and features a blue screen that reflects a blue-tinted light around the space.
The team had recently updated the Plugin design to make it waterproof, meaning the panels can now be used on the exterior of existing residences. The architects ended up naming the project “Mrs. Fan’s Plugin House”.
// week 12
Design Fiction 