Yitingting Cottage / genarchitects

Yitingting Cottage is located in Tonglu, Zhejiang. Started in 2019, this building functions as an individual drawing room and a dining room for a rural complex. Originally on the site was a two-story folk house made of rammed earth. According to the site conditions, the newly built cannot go beyond the original footprint and height. That means the new building can only be the size of a normal living room. Blocked on all sides, it has little access to scenery, with not too much design potential. Given such a small space, what else can we think of? Village style? Structural expression? Façade mannerism? Furniture selection? It took us some time to realize that it is the wall of the courtyard that is the real boundary of our feelings. We do not merely make the room facing the courtyard, but tried to bring the garden inside as part of the drawing-room.