A Narrative Water Courtyard Linking Traditional and Modern: Shaoxing Kuaiji Mountain Huangjiu Research and Development Center

Kuaiji Mountain Huangjiu Research and Development Center (KMHRDC) is located at the foot of the beautiful Jishan Mountain in the town of Hutang, on the outskirts of Shaoxing. As part of the first group of “innovative revival towns” under the Zhejiang Historical Towns Plan, and the face of the town, KMHRDC is close to the Huangjiu Production Zone (note: huangjiu is a type of Chinese rice wine), which contains three functional districts: Huangjiu Research Institute, Museum of Huangjiu, and Business Offices. On the urban scale, the design first arranged the site from disorganization to standardization which represents its evolution from traditional to modern. On the architecture scale, two key elements were used, namely the water courtyard and the 'Taimen', a Shaoxing traditional residential gate. The placement of structures like corridors, pavilions, and walls breaks up the site into an appropriate scale for a courtyard. Finally, the circulation was organized through the concepts of traditional Chinese gardens such as landscape movement and perspective shift, furthermore, inherit the Shaoxing culture and realize the integration of the old and the new.