Detail of the project ed. 2020

O STU­DIO – CHURCH OF SEED

Design­er Fai Au
Loca­tion Zhaidao Gar­den, Guo­qian Vil­lage, Huizhou, Guang­dong, China
Design Team

Fai Au, Simei Yang, Jingchao Wen, Yong Chen
Year 2011
Pho­to credits

All pho­tos by Iwan Baan

Pho­to external

Project descrip­tion

Locat­ed at Luo­fu Moun­tain Scenery Dis­trict – one of the sev­en famous Taoist Moun­tains in Chi­na, Church of Seed pro­vides not only wor­ship and med­i­ta­tion space for Chris­tians, but also recre­ation­al and gath­er­ing places for the sur­round­ing vil­lage people.

The design is trig­gered by the sto­ry of a seed in the Bible. A curve which marks the enclos­ing wall splits into three: the south east fac­ing wall has a cross shape open­ing which invites the morn­ing sun, the sol­id west fac­ing wall blocks the after­noon sun, and the cav­i­ty of the north fac­ing wall accom­mo­dates toi­let facil­i­ty. The step­ping roof ter­race allows dif­fuse north­ern day­light into the inte­ri­or and pro­vides a dra­mat­ic head­room incre­ment from the main entrance towards the wor­ship space. Vis­i­tors can walk along the step­ping roof ter­race, arrive at the obser­va­tion deck and enjoy the dis­tant view of moun­tain and lake.

Church of Seed is con­struct­ed with bam­boo tex­tured in-situ con­crete, which is eco­nom­i­cal­ly sound and prac­ti­cal for local builders. The bam­boo form­work tex­ture on the con­crete sur­face reduces the mas­sive­ness of con­crete wall and har­mo­nizes with the sur­round­ing land­scape. Plus the trans­par­ent win­dows and doors, and the hand­made bam­boo fur­ni­ture by local farm­ers, the pres­ence of the church is hum­ble and blend­ing with vil­lage life.

Illus­tra­tive project report
Down­load report

Pho­to internal

Tech­ni­cal drawings

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