Twin Gardens / YES.ARCH

Being situated at 80 kilometers away northwest of Tiananmen Square, Yudu Mountain overlooks the flat Yanhuai Basin. South-facing Yanjiabu Village sits on the mountain slope, with its crowded fabrics and typical northern Chinese countryside appearance. The village is with great tourism value due to its close distance to popular Longqing Gorge, as well as 2019 Garden Expo sites, and Shijinglong Ski Resort. Two courtyards which are located deep inside the village, are rented by client from twin brothers to be renovated into guesthouses. The program book asks architects to reasonably take advantage of courtyards’ existing buildings for more guestrooms, fully consider the economy of construction, and avoid the final results conflicting neighbors’ interests. As the landlords, the twin brothers also have two requirements: first, the renovation must not join the two courtyards into one so to respect existing property boundaries; and second, courtyards’ main entrances’ location should not be changed due to ‘Fengshui’ reasons.