Pervading Green: Co-Working Hub

1. Design Concept

This shared workspace anchors the No. 66 Zhongnan Road Community Regeneration Project. Embracing the concept of boundary dissolution, it transcends traditional work-life and institutional-residential divides, transforming the planned-economy-era dayuan—a vessel of collective memory—into a contemporary hub for creative production.

2.Context & Challenges

Located in the historic urban core of central China, the community exemplifies the decline of aging neighborhoods amid rapid urbanization. Public realms have eroded due to parking encroachment, informal structures, and ad-hoc vending, compressing residents’ opportunities for social interaction. Its dayuan typology preserves a unique spatial-social fabric—a tightly knit network embodying generational memory—now critically strained by urban transitions.

3.Design method

As embedded practitioner-residents, we address community resilience through integrated spatial-social design. Our intervention counters social alienation and spatial erosion via public space reclamation, employing strategies of spatial revitalization and boundary dissolution to cultivate an inclusive, equitable commons.

4.Design Intervention

Dynamic Programming: Integrated zones for focused work, reception, and meetings balance privacy with multi-layered interaction.

Terrace Reactivation: Underutilized terraces are transformed into immersive biophilic environments.

Visual Connectivity: Glass partitions and light-toned flooring enhance transparency, ensuring indoor–outdoor continuity. A neutral palette (off-white, light wood, brown accents) grounds the space, punctuated by vibrant material samples for dynamism.

Adaptable Infrastructure: Custom movable perforated panels merge display and storage functions with modular furniture, enabling flexible, professional-yet-artistic composite spaces.

5.Impact

Beyond its programmatic utility, the hub functions as a social condenser, catalyzing both creative output and neighborhood revitalization. As the nucleus of the 66 Community Ecosystem, it establishes symbiotic relationships with adjacent community commerce, public activity zones, and cultural venues—collectively forming a hyperlocal, collaborative, and sustainable designer ecosystem.

The project demonstrates a critical paradigm shift: from physical retrofitting to genuine socio-spatial symbiosis, establishing a replicable model for culturally rooted urban regeneration.