gif © Ouyang Yun
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About Friends | Embracers of Texture
We are a group passionate about the surface textures of architectural structures. Texture captivates us deeply. Every object has a surface, and Buddhism teaches: Sumeru hides mustard seeds, and mustard seeds absorb Sumeru — symbolizing the intricate relationship and texture between the vast and the small. Buddha created both grand and intimate spatial textures, and within the scale of architecture, we strive to craft our own textures.
Texture, much like light, is an essential architectural element — a manifestation of the building’s own will. Exploring and showcasing texture is our fundamental work. Surface textures engage all five senses: visually and tactilely most directly, but also through sound reflection affecting hearing, and even the scent of textured materials influencing smell and taste.
© Ouyang Yun
The Hangzhou Friends team often uses natural materials to achieve authentic textures, drawing inspiration directly from nature. Sometimes they preserve the material’s essence unaltered; other times, they apply artistic craftsmanship or incorporate local characteristics. Natural materials carry rich energy and meaning. Additionally, Friends are dedicated to creating new texture types and innovative presentation techniques, embracing discovery with courage and adventure.
© Ouyang Yun
Texture is alive and emotional — not solely perceived by observers but shaped by time and nature. This enriches texture’s expression and records architecture’s ongoing story through time.
Friends also extend their textural approach to furniture surfaces, applying treatments like concrete ramming, liquid metal, and stone washing, bridging building surfaces to individual objects.
© Hangzhou Friends’ Soil Making
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Nature | Purity of Modernism
The Friend Soil Research Institute is located within Hangzhou Zhijiang Fenghuang International Creative Park, known as the “backyard of the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts.” Formerly a Shuangliu Cement Plant, the site has been transformed into a vibrant creative hub. The park’s design cleverly reawakens the spirit of industrial civilization. The moment when time seems frozen here is profoundly moving.
© Ouyang Yun
After nearly ten years of development, Friends have built a deep understanding and creative foundation in the study of handmade paint and natural clay in China. In 2021, Bo Bo, the principal of Friendly Earth Making, invited Xie Peihe from AD Aike Architecture, a renowned domestic design firm, to collaborate on an art space that showcases the creativity of Friendly Earth Making in Shenzhen.
© Ouyang Yun
© Hangzhou Friends’ Soil Making
For the old Shuangliu Cement Plant factory building, designer Xie Peihe embraces the purity of modernism while extending cultural and temporal dimensions. Seeking the origin of natural sand, he created a material art center infused with emotional memories. Rooted in industrial heritage, the design integrates Friends’ products, forming a research institute that honors time and spatial expression. By turning waste into treasure, the design delivers an engaging, playful experience intended to resonate with visitors.
© Ouyang Yun
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Design System | Capturing the Venue’s Atmosphere
The design centers on the original cement plant’s three large cylinders, which elegantly narrate the story and logic of industrial civilization. Wrapped in cold concrete, these forms evoke a calm atmosphere, inviting deep reflection. This site’s inherent qualities become both an advantage and a resonance chamber for the design.
Original architecture © AD Aike Architecture
Design amplifies this resonance by abandoning decoration, presenting the raw beauty of material textures in their purest form, focusing on the life that unfolds after the architecture and space are completed.
© Ouyang Yun
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Construction Logic | Harmonious Architectural Renovation
Within the indoor space, the design maintains the architectural power through bold form and strong material expression, creating tension and imaginative spatial experiences.
The original entrance was positioned on the second-floor corridor, breaking the continuity between building and site. This disconnection hindered the emotional experience from flowing inside. To address this, the design removed side windows of the original silo and introduced a steel staircase, relocating the entrance to the bottom cylinder. This change reestablishes emotional continuity and enhances the spatial experience.
© AD Aike Architecture
The entrance features a geometric interlocking design with a modern architectural form. Material choices—rough coatings and metallic textures—blend harmoniously with the original cement cylinders. This subtle integration continues and enriches the building’s visual language, making the new entrance feel like an inherent part of the structure.
© Ouyang Yun
Inside, the eye is immediately drawn to an inverted conical concrete form featuring a deep, rough texture. The design team skillfully used this shape to manipulate lighting, creating a towering space that feels profound and mysterious. The absence of top lighting enhances the enigmatic atmosphere, evoking a sense of otherworldliness.
© Ouyang Yun
The wall’s form appears to grow organically from the building’s cylinder itself, featuring two small windows that transform the cluttered exterior into playful visual moments. These also facilitate product display and lighting design.
gif © AD Aike Architecture
Through the intersection of the cylinders, the design created two elevated spaces. A mezzanine was built, connecting to the third cylinder, optimizing spatial usage and enriching hierarchy. Visitors experience subtle shifts in transparency, emotional nuances from materials and light, and the artistic interplay of space and time.
© AD Aike Architecture
© Ouyang Yun
This project is an exploration of spatial art expressed through time. Its rational yet emotional design encourages reflection on the past, appreciation of the present, and anticipation of the future.
© AD Aike Architecture
© Ouyang Yun
Project Drawings
△ Plan view
△ Plan view
Project Information
Project Name: Hangzhou Friend Soil Texture Research Institute
Project Owner: Hangzhou Friend Soil Processing Co., Ltd
Design Agency: AD Architecture | Aike Architecture Design
Official Email: office@arch-ad.com
Chief Designer: Xie Peihe
Design Team: AD Aike Architecture
Location: Fenghuang Creative International – Hangzhou Friends’ Earthwork, Yichuang Town, Xihu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province
Building Area: 300 square meters
Main Materials: mineral rock texture coating, soil, sand and gravel, micro cement, liquid metal, concrete, transparent film
Lighting Design: Guan Xiaohao
Coating Construction: Compared to Straight Building Coating
Design Period: October 2021
Completion Date: October 2024
Project Photography: Ouyang Yun
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