Utopia La Casa Residencial by Fei Zhao is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2023 A' Design Award de Plata in Diseño de Espacios Interiores y Exposiciones Competition Category.

PlataInterior· 2023

Utopia La Casa Residencial

by Fei Zhao

Client: 323 Studio

A' Design Award de Plata Winner in Interior Category

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The Design

About Utopia La Casa Residencial

La radiante luz natural es la fuente de la forma de este espacio. La sensación que querían crear los diseñadores era un espacio orgánico e inclusivo, por lo que también compararon muchas prácticas espaciales orgánicas, incluido el posicionamiento de los planos de construcción. El espacio del sótano original ocupaba la mitad de toda el área, pero la iluminación existente en el sótano sólo permitió al propietario hacer un espacio inútil. Para mejorar la tasa de utilización de todo el espacio subterráneo y aumentar la iluminación, el diseñador quiere crear una construcción completamente nueva en torno a la luz interior.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award de Plata

Utopia La Casa Residencial ha ganado el A' Design Award de Plata, un reconocimiento extraordinariamente prestigioso concedido a diseños de gama alta, magníficos e impresionantes. Los ganadores de Plata son obras tremendamente brillantes y sumamente creativas que ilustran la destacada experiencia, el talento y la agudeza de sus diseñadores. Se espera que Utopia La Casa Residencial sea una obra maravillosa y emblemática, notablemente profesional y profundamente innovadora. Este diseño ganador del A' Design Award de Plata es una invención muy notable y admirada que beneficia y hace avanzar las fronteras del arte, la ciencia, el diseño y la tecnología. Utopia La Casa Residencial es una creación enormemente envidiada que evoca deseos, aporta sentimientos positivos y despierta asombro y admiración.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: As a narrow north-south facing townhouse, the original building has 4 floors, 2 above ground and 2 below (the basement has a height of 5.5m and can be divided into 2 floors with only a small patio to provide light). Facing south as the main direction of light, it relies on a stairwell to connect the various floors and comes with a lift. After observing the site and realizing that no well landscape was around the site, we decided to make an Inward facing construction within it.
Dimensions & Packaging: Indoor area 420 ㎡
Tags: Organic, light and shadow, lighthearted, sculptural, textural contrasts
Production Technology: The curved wall and the laminated cast-in-place revolving staircase were a very big challenge for this project in terms of landing. First of all, the curved wall is an irregular shape, and the boundary of each floor has different positioning dimensions. In order to keep the errors to a minimum, the builder used ropes to locate the 2 layers connected to the basement at multiple points while positioning according to the drawings, just to ensure the coherence of the curved walls.
For the construction drawings, we refer to the positioning method of Toyo Ito’s construction drawings, the contour grid positioning method.
Design Challenge: Guiding the constructor to land our project, and connecting with the structure and electromechanical team, both are hard nuts for us to crack. There are many first attempts for us, also for our constructor.
Research: We focus on the impact of light on the residential environment, taking sunlight as a case study, by observation of the duration and direction of sunlight at the winter and summer solstices.
Inspiration: The radiant natural light is the source of the form of this space. An organic, inclusive space was the feeling we wanted to create, so we also compared a lot of organic space practices, including the positioning of the construction drawings.
Project Duration: The project started on October 17th 2020 and finished on August 1st 2021 in Zhengzhou, China.
Operation Flow: In terms of functional distribution, we clearly divide the functional areas of each floor, which are both independent and well-connected.
The 1st floor and the 2nd floor underground are the main floors for daily access, serving as public spaces, while the relatively independent 2nd floor serves as residential spaces. Owners also have the need for daily gatherings, so we try to make each functional area larger.The staircase has been redesigned to provide a more comfortable connection of traffic flow between the functional areas on each level.
Patents: Design copyright: 323studio
Team Members: Designer: Ran Chen
Image Credits: Photographic institutions：WMstudio