Blue and red brick: Peach House by Frederic Schnee

Beijing's rural settlement structures are not the first things that come to mind when you think of the Chinese capital. Yet it is precisely these vernacular forms of habitation that Peach House by Frederic Schnee is concerned with.

The design process was preceded by a comprehensive historical and social analysis of the north Chinese country house as a residence type in its own right. After that a site-specific preliminary study was conducted to document the constructional changes the plot had gone through since the 50s and to reconstruct former buildings.

'Peach House' was built by lowering the ground floor of an existing building and inserting a concrete slab to form the new upper floor. The main pavilion is aligned to the south while the access gate has been placed at the plot's south-eastern corner. The interior layout is in keeping with the floor plans of the traditional courtyard houses of northern China.

Blue brick is prevalent both in historical Beijing and north-eastern China; less expensive red brick, on the other hand, is mainly to be found in self-built structures. 'Peach House', a north Chinese self-constructed building, combines the two by using both types of brick for the facade.

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Lead Architect: Frederic Schnee

Other Participants: Wang Ruijun, Feng Shu, Mintong