项目名称：十字交叉之家

地点：北京，中国

设计团队：察社办公室

建筑面积：334 m²

竣工时间：2024年

摄影：朱雨蒙

设计特色：

项目 - 位于北京通州区的十字交叉之家是察社办公室对疫情后生活方式转变的回应，被设计为一个可以容纳三代人同时生活和工作的单层住宅。面对严格的建筑法规限制——住宅地块只允许建造单层结构，檐高不超过3米——设计团队将这些约束转化为创造性的机遇。

这座334平方米的住宅采用了创新的十字形布局，其各个翼部向不同方向延伸并在末端相连。为维持中央庭院的比例，侧翼被整合并从周边拉开，创造了后部的狭长次级庭院。同样，面向北方的主厅被向南移动，开辟了一个后院。每个翼部现在都享有双面自然采光，整个庭院受益于畅通无阻的视线。

结构上的独创性成为了一个显著特点——建筑框架向屋脊收缩，同时结构元素在剪力墙核心处汇聚，创造了建筑师所描述的"蘑菇状"支撑系统。这使得建筑周边不受结构约束，消解了室内外空间的界限。落地玻璃将生活空间与院落相连，创造出从"院落到房屋再到院落"的连续视线。尽管如此透明，设计通过将屋檐梁降至2.4米来保持私密性，使屋顶像保护性的帽檐一样向下延伸。这一解决方案在保持舒适的层高的同时，也创造了一种庇护感——无论是在阳光明媚还是大雨滂沱的日子，坐在窗边的人仿佛是栖息在蘑菇帽下的小生物，感到受保护和安心。

十字形的空间布局处理了多代同堂生活的需求，将私人空间设计在四个末端，提供了亲密性与分隔的平衡。祖父母、父母、孩子和客人各有隐私空间，而中心区域则自然成为家庭聚集和互动的公共区域。

十字交叉之家通过当代材料创造了一种既现代又根植于地域的建筑语言，展现了察社办公室对应对实际生活挑战而非追求抽象传统的设计理念。

团队 - 察社办公室由成直于2017年正式创立，其名称最初是作为平行于"基本联合工作室"的观察研究机构而设立的。每年承接约三个项目，长期保持小型工作室的规模，主要由成直一人主导，偶尔与年轻建筑师合作。

成直在2008年硕士毕业后，在都市实践北京办公室工作了六年，之后与大学同学创立了"基本联合工作室"，并在2017年转为独立设计机构。察社办公室的设计方法超越了常规的建筑实践，将设计视为多学科方法中的一个方面，包括研究、写作、纪录和理论探索。

工作室的设计特色在于对场地特定条件和隐藏空间秩序的回应，受到成直正在进行的研究项目如"无常几种"的影响——这是对城市中经久物随时间变化的考察。成直的设计方法将建筑与观察研究、阅读和写作平行进行，相互滋养，形成独特的设计视角。

察社办公室的项目展现了对法规约束、空间创新和环境敏感性的深思熟虑的调和，如北京通州区的十字交叉之家就是这种设计理念的典范。

Project Name: House of Cross

Location: Beijing, China

Design Team: Chaoffice

Total Floor Area: 334 m²

Completion: 2024

Photography: Zhu Yumeng

Feature:

Project - Located in Beijing's Tongzhou District, the House of Cross represents Chaoffice's response to post-pandemic lifestyle shifts, designed as a single-story residence that accommodates three generations living and working together. Facing strict building regulations—residential plots limited to single-story structures with eaves no higher than 3 meters—the design team transformed these constraints into creative opportunities.

The 334-square-meter residence adopts an innovative cross-shaped layout with wings extending in different directions and joining at their ends. To maintain the proportions of the central courtyard, the side wings were consolidated and pulled away from the perimeter, creating a narrow secondary courtyard at the rear. Similarly, the north-facing main hall was shifted southward, opening up a backyard. Each wing now enjoys dual-sided natural light, while the entire courtyard benefits from uninterrupted sightlines.

The building's structural framework ingeniously recedes toward the roof ridge, with structural elements converging at the shear wall cores to form a cross-shaped structural anchor. The house, much like a mushroom, is supported at its center while its eaves extend outward in all directions. Freeing the perimeter from structural constraints allows the façade to dissolve, merging interior and exterior spaces. The cross-shaped layout creates a view that moves from near to far—courtyard, house, courtyard again—revealing overlapping scenes of daily life.

The connection between glass façade frames and eaves was carefully designed: the eaves beams were lowered to 2.4 meters, allowing the eaves to extend downward like the edge of a mushroom cap. This solution maintains a comfortable ceiling height while creating a sense of shelter—whether under bright sun or during heavy rain, those sitting by the window feel like small creatures nestled beneath a mushroom cap, protected and at ease.

The cross-configuration spatial arrangement addresses the needs of multi-generational living, with private spaces positioned at the four terminal points, providing a balance of intimacy and separation. Grandparents, parents, children, and guests each have their private spaces, while the central areas naturally become public zones where the family gathers and interacts.

House of Cross creates an architectural language that is both contemporary and rooted in place through the combination of materials like laminated eucalyptus plywood and bridge-cut-off aluminum alloy windows, demonstrating Chaoffice's design philosophy of addressing real-life challenges rather than pursuing abstract traditions.

Design Team - Chaoffice was officially established by Cheng Zhi in 2017, initially named as an observation and research institution parallel to "OEU Studio." Taking on approximately three projects annually, it has maintained the scale of a small studio, primarily led by Cheng Zhi with occasional collaboration from junior architects.

After obtaining his master's degree in 2008, Cheng Zhi worked at URBANUS Beijing for six years before founding "OEU Studio" with university classmates and transitioning to independent practice in 2017. Chaoffice's methodology transcends conventional architectural practice, positioning design as one facet of a multidisciplinary approach that includes research, writing, documentation, and theoretical exploration.

The studio's work is characterized by its response to site-specific conditions and hidden spatial orders, informed by Cheng's ongoing research projects such as "Impermanence in Various Forms"—an investigation into enduring urban elements that transform over time, echoing Aldo Rossi's theories on urban permanences. Cheng's design approach places architecture in parallel with observational research, reading, and writing, which mutually nourish each other to form a unique design perspective.

Chaoffice's projects demonstrate a thoughtful reconciliation of regulatory constraints, spatial innovation, and contextual sensitivity, as exemplified by the House of Cross in Beijing's Tongzhou District.