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SAKO Architects

SAKO Architects

Beijing, CN | Tokyo, JP | Fukuoka, JP

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SQUARES in Tianshui

This is a complex facility built in a small rural town, combining a library and a day service for the elderly.

The site faces a residential area and is surrounded by a mixed environment, so the number of windows on the perimeter has been minimized. This approach has also proven effective in enhancing insulation performance and ensuring quietness according to the intended use. On the other hand, the library room on the second floor uses frameless vacuum triple glazing and is fully open to the courtyard in the center of the building.

The square of sky carved out changes moment by moment. Light changes, clouds flow, and rain falls. Various changes caused by the Earth's rotation dance in the courtyard, forming a timeline within the quiet reading room.

The change in light is further amplified by the mirror effect created by the deep eaves and the black corridor space, making the carved out sky appear divided into nine at times.

The elements of the floor plan and elevations are all composed of squares.

The corridors surrounding the square courtyard and the reading rooms surrounding them are also square, forming a neatly nested plan like a mandala.

All bookshelves are square, with four or nine modules directly connected to the windows around them. While it seems from each reading room that the windows are normally placed, from the outside, the façade appears to have windows of various sizes randomly arranged.

This building is also ambitiously working towards achieving 'zero carbon'. With high insulation, solar and wind power generation, and geothermal utilization, it has received the first 'carbon zero at the design stage' certification for a library in China, and a one-year demonstration period has already begun.

Roof tiles from demolished buildings have been reused in the front yard, carrying on the memory of the land.

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小さな田舎町に建てられた図書館と高齢者向けデイサービスの複合施設です。

敷地は住宅街に面しており、周囲環境が雑多であるため、外周の窓は必要最小限にとどめた。用途に応じた断熱性能の向上と静粛性の確保にも効果を発揮しました。一方、2階の図書室はフレームレスの真空三重ガラスを採用し、建物中央の中庭にフルオープン。

正方形に切り取られた空は刻一刻と変化します。光が変化し、雲が流れ、雨が降ります。地球の自転によるさまざまな変化が中庭に踊り、静寂な閲覧室の中に時間軸を形成します。

深い軒と黒い廊下空間が生み出すミラー効果によって光の変化がさらに増幅され、時に切り取られた空が九つに浮かび上がります。

平面図と立面図の要素はすべて正方形で構成されます。

正方形の中庭を囲む回廊とそれを囲む閲覧室も正方形で、曼荼羅のような整然と入れ子状の平面構成を形成している。 

本棚もすべて正方形で、周囲の窓に 4 つまたは 9 つのモジュールが直接接続されています。各閲覧室からは普通に窓が配置されているように見えますが、外から見るとファサードには大小の窓がランダムに配置されているように見えます。

この建物は「ゼロカーボン」の達成にも意欲的に取り組んでいます。高い断熱性、太陽光・風力発電、地熱利用などにより、中国の図書館として初めて「設計段階でのカーボンゼロ」の認定を受け、すでに1年間の実証期間が始まっている。

取り壊された建物の屋根瓦が前庭に再利用され、土地の記憶を引き継いでいます。

 
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Status: Built
Location: Tianshui, CN
Additional Credits: Principal Architect: Keiichiro Sako

Architectural Design :   SAKO Architects 
Interior Design: SAKO Architects 
Specification: •Solar Power Generation
•Wind Power Generation
•Geothermal Heat Pumps
•Graphite Modified Expanded Polystyrene Foam Board 180mm thick
• Passive Windows and Doors (Manufacturer: WinGreen)
•Frameless Vacuum Triple Glass (Super Transparent Low-e Glass)
 
Client:   SOHO China
Photo credits:   YuMing Song, Luo Juncai

Website: https://www.sako.co.jp/
Instagram: @keiichiro_sako
Contact e-mail: info@sako.co.jp

 
SQUARES in Tianshui