Location: Beijing, China.

Architect: SUP Atelier.

Tsinghua University in China has built a new multi-functional building to replace two old canteens that were causing chaos on campus. The new building includes canteens for students and professors, a lecture hall, exhibition hall, office and service hall for the Tsinghua Career Center, and food storage for all the canteens. The design paid close attention to transforming the former chaotic site into a convenient and complete public place for the campus, using the terrain of the site for easy accessibilities in all directions, and creating a sustainable, low cost and low energy consumption building.

The building is divided into two main functions: canteen and career centre, which are operated independently and are connected with a public atrium, which connects public spaces on different stories, like a traditional inner Chinese courtyard. The building is designed to be sustainable, with passive design strategies adopted to make the space more comfortable and reduce the cost and energy consumption in operation. The exterior brick wall is also designed with the idea of sustainability, with the brick masonry walls built not only as an enclosure wall, but also as a sun-shading system and ventilation openings. The masonry wall is constructed in more than five ways, bringing various textures for exterior walls and meeting different functional demands. The brick walls are designed like artwork, with traditional craftsmanship prevailing.

Photo credit: Xia Zhi, Chen Su, Fang Chun.