Wuyishan Bamboo Raft Factory / TAO - Trace Architecture Office

Curated by Joanna Wong

Architects: TAO - Trace Architecture Office
Area: 14629 m²
Year: 2013
Photographs:Shengliang Su
Lead Architect: Li Hua

Text description provided by the architects. Located atop a plateau in the rural Xingcun village, the building complex is a manufacturing and storage facility of bamboo rafts, used to sail the nearby Nine Bend River in Wuyi Mountain for tourism. Each winter 22,000 bamboo stems are harvested which, following a storage period, are used to manufacture 1,800 bamboo rafts annually.

Wuyishan Bamboo Raft Factory / TAO - Trace Architecture Office - Image 46 of 66 — Workshop Axonometric

Its architecture and layout reflect distinct programmatic, topographical, and climatic requirements. The “L” shaped manufacturing workshop accommodates six fire areas for the bending of the bamboo and the assembling of rafts. The interior of the workshop is an open layout of 14 meters span required for the working space. Natural light is filtered through oblique skylights, which are oriented northward in order to get softer and homogeneous light.

Aside from the working areas, the workshop houses resting spaces, storage rooms, restrooms, courtyards, and other service functions. The office and dormitory building adopts a veranda layout, with offices occupying the first floor, and dormitory and cafeteria occupying the second floor. Bamboo stalks are applied along the veranda to form shading louvers, which also provide well-ventilated insulation.

Considering the principle of localization and economy, in-situ concrete is used for the structure, hollow concrete blocks for the exterior wall system, cement tile for the roofing material, and bamboo and wood for the sunshading, doors, windows and handrails. Without overmuch surface finishing, all the materials present their own characters.

The industrial character of the project discourages superfluous design; by using the most basic elements for its construction, the architecture naturally reveals its structural and material logic. The project reconciles aesthetic simplicity with an economy of means, by which the architecture can demonstrate its resolution of form and function.