12 Chinese Home Remodelling Ideas: Solutions to Housing Problems

Brief

In 2014, a home reconstruction program called “Dream home” was launched in China, inviting architects and interior designers to redesign some old houses that have problems. Some of these homes are oddly shaped, some are tiny, and yet others have extremely inadequate lighting

Insight

In 2014, a home reconstruction program called “Dream home” was launched in China, inviting architects and interior designers to redesign some old houses that have problems.

Some of these homes are oddly shaped, some are tiny, and yet others have extremely inadequate lighting. The design concepts conveyed by the designers together in this program are respect for people, understanding human relationships, and the definition of home.

These renovations or reconstructions are not just home updates for clients, but a reinterpretation of “home” that gives them a new life with dignity.

A Home in the Gap / Pingyuan Design

This house is a three-story old house surviving in the cracks of Sichuan North Road in Hongkou, Shanghai. The neighbor’s outer wall encloses this house in the gap. The client has hemophilia and is paralyzed in both legs. He lives with his parents, wife, and son. At the same time, the neighbor in the same building is the client’s cousin, who has a strained relationship with him.

The first-floor entry door was divided into two, entirely separating the two areas, and each of the two families has their staircase, solving the problem of overlapping movement lines caused by two families sharing one entrance and the first-floor staircase.

For the sake of the clients with mobility issues, a tiny elevator was added to the tight space, and eventually, the whole house was divided vertically into three parts: on the west side is the transportation space with an elevator and stairs; in the middle part, the kitchen is on the first floor and a bathroom on each of the second and third floors; on the east side is the living space.

The top of the third floor was primarily converted to a skylight to improve light. And the through-height patio was set on the north side to increase light and ventilation.