Location: Shenzhen, China.

Architect: Studio Link-Arc + CCDI.

The CRG Archive Library, located on the campus of Xiaojingwan University in Shenzhen, serves as an archive for the client and a gallery space and lecture hall for the adjacent campus. To increase connections between the internal program and the site beyond, Link-Arc created two interior public spaces: an understated entry lobby connecting to the main campus and a dramatic exhibition space with views of the city and landscape beyond. The building massing is articulated to maximize local conditions, with the main entrance articulated as a separate volume with the entry beneath. The exhibition lobby is defined by a dramatic angular cut that connects the internal public space to an exterior terrace. The building is covered in a handmade gray brick that unifies the massing and adds texture to the exterior surfaces.

The brick is articulated in many different ways to add visual texture and maximize the effects created by a single material. The hand-made quality of the custom brick modules adds a unique texture to the surface that connects the project to the earth, to history, and to the simple act of making.