From the Mountains to the City，SANBAO children's library

This project is situated in Qinglong County, one of the poorest counties in China. Sanbao Sub-district stands as the largest overall relocation community in Asia, where most residents are ethnic minorities who moved down from the surrounding mountains and are embracing modern life for the first time. Sanbao Sub-district has transformed the former garment factory into a library, aiming to provide diverse and colorful activities for children and residents of all age groups, addressing the scarcity of both material and spiritual resources for local children and evolving into a vibrant community cultural center. Most of the children’s after-school activities unfold here—meeting friends, reading, chatting, and playing—and it is where they forge their basic social relationships.

The inspiration for this project stems from local children’s imagination of what a library could be. Starting from the growth needs of children, the designers have divided the space into a reading area, a writing and study area, and a play area by integrating dynamic and static zones. This layout endows the space with openness, fluidity, flexibility, and playfulness, catering to children’s demand for diverse experiences and enhancing their reading enjoyment.

Based on multiple considerations of economic cost, sustainable development concept and child safety, the designer delved deep into the local historical context, regional environment and distinctive culture, and adopted local Chinese fir as the core material to effectively address the problems caused by the humid local environment. The unique knotted surface of the fir boards, under soft natural light, forms a multi-layered aesthetic together with the curved lines of the furniture, while also echoing the local residents’ nostalgia for the pastoral and grazing life in the mountains before their relocation.

The design discards redundant materials and decorative embellishments; instead, it inherits architectural vocabulary, leverages the beauty of natural light and shadow, and shapes geometric forms. This grants the space an inclusive dynamism, creating a wall-free reading space with a healthy lighting environment for reading.