How can a whole neighborhood be revitalized through small updates and targeted activations? How can street corners become hubs of energy and life? After extensive planning and challenging negotiations, the decision was made to transform this location into the Asian Games Village Sub-district Community Office. This project aims to create a Winter Olympics-themed community space that serves residents and stands out as one of Beijing’s most beautiful and popular community offices. Positioned as a symbolic foothold, it reflects the Asian Games Village Sub-district’s bold commitment to transformation.
By converting old exhibition halls into treasured spaces, the renovation achieves a striking transformation of the street corner with low costs, minimal intervention, and straightforward construction. This is no longer a traditional gatehouse-style office with window displays but a modern community life center where everyone is welcome to enter, observe, and participate.
Before the renovation
With budget constraints, expensive curtain walls were no longer an option, and aluminum alloy door and window frames felt too bulky. The street corner’s prominent location demanded an impressive and attractive facade. Unfortunately, the existing structure could not support heavy exterior walls or curtain walls, making facade design a major challenge.
Since curtain walls were not feasible, the design turned to bricks, which hold cultural significance in Beijing. However, traditional brick construction is thick and heavy—too much for the original structure to bear. The solution was to create lightweight, transparent, and affordable bricks that are easy to build with. This led to the innovative idea of crafting bricks from organic glass. By manufacturing these bricks ourselves, we could incorporate the desired “color card” within the material, injecting subtle vibrancy into the otherwise dull street corner.
We chose white to evoke ice and snow, symbolizing the Winter Olympics, with bricks as clear and crystalline as frozen winter landscapes.
Thanks to strong support from the owners and construction team, we developed five types of bricks using a combination of four materials: transparent acrylic, opaque acrylic, transparent polycarbonate, and opaque polycarbonate. We also created small samples for testing. The installation method was inspired by reinforced block walls, with two small holes drilled into each brick for staggered reinforcement.
Thousands of these ice-and-snow-inspired bricks seemed to fall from the sky onto a stainless steel sculpture of “2022,” creating a snowy effect. The four digits of 2022 also serve as a structural support for the building’s entrance, symbolizing a gateway into the year 2022 and a new era of beautiful living.
As you enter 2022, the building welcomes you with an open lobby on the first floor, where transparent curved glass seamlessly blends the interior with the exterior. To the right is the community reception desk and tour guide station. Facing the revolving wooden door is a corridor that transforms into a community display and bulletin board when opened.
On the left side, an open hall features the “0” from the 2022 motif, forming a “zero” stage where residents can gather to discuss, share ideas, and perform. These activities are visible to passersby and open for public participation. Inside, a cozy book corner invites children to read and learn.
Ascending the original renovated staircase to the second floor, visitors enter a bright, snowy-white space featuring a conference room and a multifunctional hall for public events. From this hall, the design evokes the feeling of being above zero degrees, like the sunrise in the southeast, symbolizing daily hope and renewal for the community.
Project Drawings
△ Before and after renovation comparison
△ Pre-renovation model
△ First floor plan
△ Second floor plan
△ Elevation drawing
Project Information
Area: 500 m²
Project Year: 2021
Photographer: Xiang Gang
Principal Architect: Guo Hai’an
Planning Team: Tang Yan, Li Jing, Qi Mengnan
Design Team: Xiang Gang, Zheng Chuanying, Sun Qingfeng, Cheng Di, Du Yuanyuan
Partner: Beijing Century Qianfu International Engineering Design Co., Ltd
Lighting Design: Ningzhijing
Construction: Beijing Jingxi Construction Group Co., Ltd
Location: Beijing, China
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