Qinfeng Library / Wall Architects of XAUAT
Text description provided by the architects. Located in “The eighteen junior high school of Xi’an Hi-tech Zone”, the “Qinfeng Library” is the second “Rural School Library” of the Hope Project in Shaanxi completed by the team in cooperation with the “Samsung (China) Social Welfare Program”. The library continues the design concept of “integration and mutualization” with the environment, but also experimentally explores the value of the following two aspects: 1. Opening and sharing – The construction site is located in the southeast corner of the school, adjacent to two major rural roads to the east and south. The purpose of the outward location is to allow the building as a link that can serve both the inside and outside of the school and benefit the neighboring villagers.
The open semi-outdoor space under the eaves on the south side and the accessible large space on the first floor becomes a “shared space” for active interaction between the school cultural life and villagers, and enrichment activities can be organized to stimulate the diversified cultural life of the countryside in the future. The design specifies the “small space and multi-purpose” composite goal, forming a rich spatial composition that not only meets the basic function of reading but is also compatible with seminars, exhibitions, exchanges, learning, performances, and other possibilities. The semi-outdoor space under the eaves on the west and north side echoes the neighboring buildings and landscapes, making up for the lack of appropriate public interaction spaces.
2. Ecological sustainability – With the technical support of the Zero Energy & Zero Carbon Building Research Team of Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, the design fully explores a low-carbon path that combines with the local natural environment, so that the building orientation, form, slope and openings are conducive to obtaining more solar radiation in the winter, and better natural ventilation and cooling in the transition season and summer (especially the downhill wind in the summer afternoon). The single-slope form avoids the impact of sunlight on the dormitory to the north, and the skylight on the roof complements the year-round natural daylighting and summer ventilation of the indoor space.
The lighting, multimedia equipment, sockets, and smart windows are powered by PV, making it essentially a fully DC-powered building. The PV installation adopts the connection technology of structurally integrated embedded parts and steel keel, which takes into account the aesthetics, safety, and cost intensification. The library is equipped with a full set of monitoring equipment, and the data is transmitted to the cloud in real-time, to accumulate first-hand operational data for the application and promotion of low-carbon building technologies.
Although the “Qinfeng Library”, a small school library with low cost, faced many difficulties in construction under rural conditions, the continued promotion of this project will certainly provide a model for the development of rural building and public welfare in Shaanxi. It is the evidence of related results of the “14th Five-Year Plan” National Science and Technology Major Project of China, “Research and Demonstration of Key Technologies for Zero-Carbon Building in Solar-Rich Area” and also the positive response to a series of policies of the State and Shaanxi Province on zero-carbon buildings and BIPV, etc.
