Between the Bamboo

This project takes the waterfront of Pingtan Water Sports Base in Huizhou, Guangdong, as its real-world design site, bringing together a group of 6–8 students aged 13–18 in an experimental design-build workshop. Through a complete architectural process—from site observation and conceptual development to structural detailing and full-scale construction—the participants designed and built a small public pavilion for resting and viewing the riverside landscape.

Located between three clusters of bamboo along the riverbank, the pavilion responds directly to the site's natural conditions, including shade, prevailing breezes, riverside views, and patterns of occupation. Rather than imposing an architectural object onto the landscape, the project explores how a lightweight intervention can become part of the existing environment.

A key strategy of the project is responding to real construction constraints. All primary materials—including square steel tubes, angle steel sections, standard steel plates, perforated steel panels, and connection hardware—were purchased from local steel workshops and hardware suppliers within approximately two kilometres of the site. By relying almost entirely on readily available industrial components instead of custom fabrication, the project minimizes construction costs while remaining fully demountable, transportable, and reusable.

Shortly after completion, the pavilion survived the strongest Category-14 typhoon ever recorded in the region without structural failure, providing a full-scale validation of its lightweight structural system while demonstrating how thoughtful design can transform ordinary industrial materials into resilient public architecture.