Pump House Renovation by NAN Architects + JWDA

Interior Architecture and Design

The pumping station has been abandoned for many years, staying lonely in the neighborhood. People passing by,never realize its existence nor even take a look at it. However, Mottled walls and wild vines hide a lot of memory. It is the architect's topic to revoke its existence. The client wants to convert it into office of 8-10 occupants. Space is the essence of architecture. Our strategy is to maintain its structure and spatial relationship, and eliminate superfluous decorative elements, dig out its inherent memory and value.

Different from the common buildings,The pump House has many holes on the floor for device use , and two exhaust chimneys on the corner. Although these components are no longer used, we still reserve and convert them into new building elements to have a dialogue with the old memory.

As the office is settled in a residential area, the privacy of the office is one of the most important factors in this design. We locate the terrace on the south facade which is away from the residential buildings. On the north facade which is visible from the residents, we built a solid wall with a skylight and a bottom ribbon window, which make the space mysterious but not depressed.

The pumping station is six meters high, with lots of high-side window . An added mezzanine space can take advantage of these windows. What we only need to do is to adjust its size and proportion slightly. We convert the original underground water storage space into a basement. In order to avoid risks of bio-gas, the basement entrance is located outdoors,where cantilevered steel steps can be located between the gap of the arc retaining wall and the main building. Two old trees adjacent to the building looks more prosperous in front of the pure white wall.