“We will build a roof where we can watch the sunset over the Grand Canal.” This simple yet inspiring phrase was shared during the initial site survey in early spring 2020, setting the tone for the living room’s design. Located on the historic Bache Street in Wujiang, Suzhou—just a ten-minute walk from the canal—this living room project marks the first in a series of micro-renovations along the old street.
The driving force behind this micro-renewal was the forthcoming Suzhou University campus across the canal. City leaders envisioned transforming Bache Old Street into a vibrant school town, hoping that future students would rejuvenate the area and spark new opportunities. Within this context, the small living room emerged as a critical public space, bridging the old and new. It is no exaggeration to say that this modest building carries a significant mission. We often joked afterward that it was an ambitious house.
The “Floating Living Room” is situated in Bache, which originally developed as a small market town along the Grand Canal. It flourished during the Ming and Qing dynasties, eventually becoming an administrative district street in Wujiang District, Suzhou. The old street serves as the core of Bache and the site of its earliest market towns.
As a result, the architecture along Old Street is a patchwork of periods, ranging from preserved Qing Dynasty wooden and stone bridges to late 20th-century buildings. This blend of styles and materials reflects a typical Jiangnan small town. Despite being located in the fertile, prosperous region of Wujiang, most old street visitors on weekdays are elderly or children, as younger generations tend to explore elsewhere. The street urgently needed revitalization.
The planned Suzhou University campus across the canal offered a promising catalyst for renewal. Like many small towns, Bache Old Street is a dense residential area with winding roads and bustling traffic. The charm of its meandering alleys is undeniable, yet the space feels cramped, limiting freedom of movement. Complicating matters, property rights and land-use restrictions dictated that the living room be built in the heart of the old street, requiring the demolition of a dangerous old school building. This posed additional design and construction challenges.
Faced with this dilemma, our first idea was to make the building “float.” By elevating the structure on the ground floor, visitors would no longer feel confined by the narrow alleys. Instead, they would experience a sudden sense of openness and transparency.
To maximize this open feeling, a steel frame structure was chosen to allow for large spans, and we collaborated with structural engineers to remove a central column, creating a “column-free” elevated space. However, using steel introduced new construction challenges. Large lifting equipment could not access the site through narrow tunnels, forcing the demolition of several unsafe buildings to enable construction. Looking back, this turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it created new passageways and freed the living room from its cramped enclosure, allowing it to breathe.
While the elevated floor was designed to “breathe,” the sunken floor was intended to be a place to “stay.” The elevated layer is set 60 centimeters below the surrounding ground level, forming a courtyard that is both elevated and sunken.
The courtyard’s perimeter features old bricks salvaged and recycled from demolition, softening the rigidity of its boundaries while enhancing the sense of enclosure and warmth. This design preserves visibility inside and outside the courtyard, avoiding any oppressive feeling of being buried deep below ground.
To enhance the building’s lightness and reduce the visual weight pressing down from the second floor, a 5-centimeter “neck” detail was added between the columns and overhead floor, resembling a shock absorber. Though purely visual, this subtle treatment makes the upper structure appear lighter and more agile.
The staircase leading to the second floor employs a similar technique: the galvanized steel plate base is elevated 15 centimeters above the ground, hiding the central beam beneath. This creates the illusion of a gently descending boarding ladder, adding to the suspended feeling of the upper volume.
Shortly after the reception hall’s completion, a rare and prolonged heatwave arrived. The overhead ventilation and wind effects generated by the atrium made the sunken courtyard a perfect cooling spot. Elderly residents played with children here, and community groups often held choir performances. This courtyard continues to breathe new life into the old street.
In the sunken courtyard named “Planting a Ginkgo Tree,” a transplanted ginkgo stands as a symbol of vitality. Why plant a tree here? It was an emotional choice—trees bring life to a space. Selecting the right tree was challenging because its height needed to complement the building’s layers, creating a visual progression: the trunk visible from the first floor, the canopy from the second, and the treetops from the roof. This layering expanded the perceived depth of the small house.
Choosing a deciduous tree also allowed the courtyard to vividly reflect the changing seasons. Imagining the golden autumn leaves adds a poetic touch. After completion, the subtle interplay between the straight ginkgo trunk and the overhead structural columns was a delightful surprise. The tree softened the harshness of the columns, blending nature and structure so seamlessly that it became difficult to distinguish one from the other.
The second floor serves as the main indoor space of the living room, designed for flexible, open functions like reading, meetings, and exhibitions. It also features a three-level mezzanine dedicated to a children’s reading area. To maximize adaptability for future uses, the space avoids rigid partitions.
The dominant feature is the ginkgo tree, enclosed within a glass box-like courtyard surrounded by glass curtain walls. This design creates an intimate indoor landscape without sacrificing views to the outside world. Two vertical windows, each 4.8 meters tall, on the southwest facade frame views of the old street, inviting the external environment in.
The roof, known as the “Roof Overlooking the Canal,” features a subtle curling form that harmonizes uniquely with the traditional sloped roofs of the old street. This design also enhances the experience of the rooftop terrace, making it feel relaxed and natural.
Interestingly, this curling effect is echoed inside the second-floor indoor space. Rather than smoothing out the roof’s elevation changes, the ceiling follows the roof’s curved line, creating a gentle indoor curve. Considerable thought was given to the placement of beams and air ducts to maintain this smooth form.
The ceiling’s elevation changes also correspond with a small mezzanine on the northeast side, creating a visual and conversational connection between the second floor and mezzanine.
The roof height was meticulously calculated during design, with the main terrace capped at 10 meters. This elevation allows the terrace to rise just above the ridgelines of most old street houses, offering distant views without imposing on neighboring buildings or blocking sunlight.
However, 10 meters was not enough to clearly view the Grand Canal in the distance. To address this, we reinterpreted the traditional “tiger window” on the roof as a secondary accessible terrace. Raised to 13.5 meters, this vantage point provides sweeping views over the entire old street and the bustling canal beyond.
Bache’s origins are deeply tied to the Grand Canal, which is the town’s lifeblood. The roof allows everyone to experience this connection—to see the roots of this canal town. At the same time, it offers a hopeful glimpse of the future, with the newly completed Suzhou University campus across the canal set to bring vitality as a school town.
Standing on the living room roof is both a reflection on heritage and a vision for what lies ahead. “Where did Bache come from, and where is it going?” Our questions seem to find their answer here.
Project Drawings
△ Conceptual Diagram
△ Conceptual Diagram
△ General Layout Plan
△ Detailed Drawings
Project Information
Architect: Dedang Design
Area: 484 m²
Project Year: 2022
Photography: Existent Architecture, Zhou Wei
Lead Architects: Wang Junfeng, Gu Zheng
Design Team: Sun Wenliang, Yang Yuqiong, Liu Zhangjin, Fan Ruonan, Li Liang
Principal: Bache Street Office of Wujiang District People’s Government, Suzhou City
Construction Contractor: Suzhou Qiancaiye Construction Engineering Co., Ltd
Construction Drawing Design: Suzhou Dongwu Architectural Design Institute Co., Ltd
Location: Suzhou
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