Folding Garden: A Masterpiece of Architectural Innovation

Zhubo Design's Award-Winning Community Center in Beijing

Located in a city steeped in history, the Folding Garden is a modern interpretation of traditional royal architecture. The challenge was to translate the grandeur of a vast garden system into a relatively compact space. The result is a place of pure geometric form, full of natural tension, a testament to the architects' "Garden Making Practice".

The Folding Garden's uniqueness lies in its continuous wall that cuts across the site. This linear and zigzag wall not only shapes the garden but also serves as the supporting structure, creating a coherent indoor column-free space. The corridor space that runs through the north and south connects three scattered courtyard spaces, hence the name "Folding Garden".

Covered by fluctuating flowing bricks, the Folding Garden resembles a mountain in the forest. As the sun rises higher than the tree, it shines on the flowing wall, creating a sequence of light: gorgeous forest, shining green square, gorgeous straight eave, shining sinking courtyard. This manipulation of sunlight sculpts a beautiful full-viewed space scenery into a free geometry mountain.

The Folding Garden spans a total land area of 6421 square meters with a construction area of 1403 square meters. The building stands at a height of 5.5 meters and consists of one floor above ground and one floor underground. It serves as a public service building and a community center, a testament to Zhubo Design's innovative approach to architecture.

Designed around a straight central axis, the courtyard interchanges the internal and external relations of the three-entry courtyard along the central axis. The one-stop path to the garden not only increases the user's travel distance but also presents different visual experiences of the same garden from different angles—just as "there is a landscape in the garden, and there is a garden in the landscape".

The Folding Garden project started in 2017 and was completed in 2018. It was built for Poly Group and was used as a sales center in the early stage. Despite the limited cost of the project and the heavier historical context, Zhubo Design managed to find a balance between economy and practicality, conveying the atmosphere of the architect's ideal cultural place and making the space available for better service.

This architectural marvel has not gone unnoticed. The Folding Garden was awarded Silver in A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award in 2022. This prestigious award is rewarded to top-of-the-line, creative, and professionally remarkable designs that illustrate outstanding expertise and innovation. These designs, admired for their strong technical characteristics and splendid artistic skill, showcase a remarkable level of excellence and introduce positive feelings, amazement, and wonder.