Beijing-based architectural firm, LUO studio has designed the Prepared Rehmannia Root Crafts Exhibition Hall in Jiaozuo city’s Xiuwu county within the Henan Province in China, to honour the region’s production of four traditional Chinese medicine herbs, specifically the Rehmannia root. As part of the Houyanmen village’s rural industrial park, the exhibition space portrays traditional craftsmanship with a versatile wooden frame structure.

The exhibition hall is located in the county’s Houyanmen village which serves as a prime example of catering to the flourishing medicinal herb industry. With the Xiuwu county government's support, a processing workshop utilising a portal frame structure was completed alongside a drying field in the village, in 2020. The crafts exhibition hall employing a similar structure, began foundation pit excavation in 2020 and was completed a year later by LUO studio.

The design team fabricated the wreathing structure by abandoning a conventional factory-like design. The transition of the building from a utilitarian, production-focused structure to a versatile, integrated space underscores the evolving needs and aspirations of the region’s rural community.  LUO studio thus focused on primary, secondary, and tertiary industries for the exhibition design, thereby acknowledging the evolving role of rural areas.

Diverging from the traditional square plan of the building, Luo Yujie, founder of LUO studio, adopted a centrally symmetrical circular form with a regular 18-sided polygon on the plane to facilitate precise and efficient construction. The circumference of the inscribed 37 metres-diameter circle is utilised as an efficient circulation route for visitors to minimise unnecessary overlaps or detours. As per LUO studio, “The design introduces dynamic variations in both space and scale, creating distinct “ring” spaces.” Where the outer ring forms the wooden enclosure walls as a backdrop for display boards, the middle ring exhibits distinct Rehmannia root products. The innermost ring, on the other hand, includes terraced seating and a central 2.5 metres-diameter skylight.

Utilising the 3Rs of sustainable design, the timber structure embodies “furniture as structure” methodology by reducing the material consumption and integrating the structure, furniture design, and space, in line with the studio’s design ideology. Large-section columns are transformed into small-section column arrays ‘which are then stacked vertically and horizontally to secure secondary small wooden beams,’ as described by the design team. Functional shelves are further carved out of the structure with panels laid over the beams to form standardised modular units, thereby, saving manpower and material resources and ensuring ease of access to the villagers.

The building’s cost-effective approach fosters a large-span open space to fulfil 'the attributes of the exhibition hall, local characteristics, and ecological considerations,' according to the studio’s press statement. Translating LUO studio’s focus on sustainable construction, the layout incorporates inventive daylight strategies. Owing to the traditional Chinese pharmaceutical processes, light is utilised as the central theme of the exhibition design. The colossal spiralling structure allows natural light to enter through the ceiling, eaves, and gaps in the enclosure walls.

Encapsulating a similar material scheme dotting the traditional houses of the Houyanmen Village, local red brick masonry wall techniques have been employed for the enclosure walls and internal partition walls, on the structure’s lower section. Elsewhere engineered wood frame system forms the upper roof and supports the frame column structure of the lower section. The building’s cultural architecture not only meets the spatial requirements but also provides a warm and aesthetic environment that reflects the spirit of the region.

LUO studio highlights local cultural heritage through a versatile and eco-friendly exhibition space that honours and supports the evolving needs of the rural industry. Some of the key projects by LUO studio with a similar site-specific approach include the adaptive reuse of the Party and Public Service Center in Yuanheguan village, China, and the timber bridge in Gulou waterfront resort in Jiangmen, Guangdong, China.

Project Details

Name: Prepared Rehmannia Root Crafts Exhibition Hall
Location: Houyanmen Village, Huanfeng Town, Xiuwu County, Henan Province
Type: Exhibition Hall
Client: People’s Government of Huanfeng Town, Xiuwu County
Area: 1,463 square metres
Design firm: LUO studio
Design team: Luo Yujie, Wang Beilei, Cao Yutao, Huang Shangwan, Zhang Chen
Construction team: Henan Shancheng Construction Engineering Co., Ltd
Year of completion: 2021

(Text by Simran Gandhi, intern at STIR)