Atelier Feichang Jianzhu

Building as a Miniature City

Hebei Education Publishing House, Hebei, 2004

Yung Ho CHANG / Atelier Feichang Jianzhu

The publishing house itself needs only three stories of space. Yet the lively real estate market in China and the high cost of land have driven the company to construct a twelve-story building and develop rental office space, conference and exhibition facilities, a hotel, restaurant, café, bookstore—even an art museum and an indoor basketball court. This hybrid use inspires and informs the architectural design: The structure is thus dissolved into three relatively independent micro-buildings. The publishing house is located on the top floor, with rental office space and commercial activities below. The spaces between the micro-buildings are open to the public and form a vertical urban garden while also serving as a fire escape. This very urban quality of the in between space pushes the edifice towards a miniature city.

Project Name: Hebei Education Publishing House Building

Location: Shijiazhuang, Hebei

Client: Hebei Education Publishing House

Architect: Atelier Feichang Jianzhu

Project Designer: Yung Ho CHANG

Project Team: DAI Changjing, LIU Xianghui, WANG Hui, WANG Zhaoming, XU Yixing, YU Lu, ZHANG Lufeng

Consultants: XU Minsheng (structural consultant)

Structure and Material: Reinforced concrete frame with partial steel frame and concrete-block walls

Building Area: 16,800 sq. meters

Cost: Approximately 37,000,000 RMB

Design Period: 2000–2001

Construction Period: 2000–2004