baiziwan social housing case study

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Baiziwan Social Housing / MAD Architects

• Curated by 韩双羽 - HAN Shuangyu
• Architects: MAD Architects
• Area Area of this architecture project Area:  473346 m²
• Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2021
• Photographs Photographs: ArchExist , CreatAR Images , Yumeng Zhu
• Lighting Design : Beijing Ning Field Lighting Design Corp. Ltd
• Structure Consultant : CCDI International Design Consultants Co. Ltd.
• Construction : Beijing Uni.-Construction Group Co. Ltd , Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co. Ltd
• Principal Partners In Charge:  Yangsong Ma, Qun Dang, Yosuke Hayano
• Associate Partners:  Huiying Liu, Changrui Fu
• Design Team:  Xiaokang He, Chengwen Zheng, Li Shang, Chen Xu, Guangchong Li, Deyuan Wang, Fang Zhengm Shangren Tong, Mujung Kang, Tingfu Zhang, Long Zhang, Kai Zhang, Kazushi Miyamoto, Yukan Yanagawa, Zhipeng Yu, Tomasz Czarnecki, Davide Signorato, Natalia Giacomino, Sear Nee, Yiwen Yuan, Steven Chaffer Park, Dookee Chung, Hiroki Fujino, Xuezhu Jiang, Luman Chen, Dina Khaki, Xuebing Yang
• Client:  Beijing Public Housing Construction and Investment Center
• Construction Drawing Design:  Beijing Institute of Architectural Design
• Landscape Design:  Earthasia Design Group
• Signage Design:  NDC China Inc
• Supervision:  Beijing Innovation Construction Engineering Management Co. Ltd
• Prefabrication:  Beijing Yantong Construction Components Co Ltd
• City:  Beijing
• Country:  China

Text description provided by the architects. Baiziwan Social Housing (later referred to as Baiziwan) is the first affordable housing project by MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong. Situated near the CBD (central business district) in Beijing , the project covers an area of 93,900 square meters, with a total construction area of 473,300 square meters. The scheme is comprised of 12 residential buildings collectively providing 4000 households. Since its completion, almost 3000 families have moved in. The project offers dwellings for welfare dependents and young professionals. The project is a culmination of Ma Yansong’s extensive research into social housing, which began in 2014. Under the thematic topic “The Sociality of Social Housing,” MAD’s research focuses on the historical development and design of social housing across different countries. The research has been further developed by Ma Yansong’s own engagements with this subject while teaching at Tsinghua University and the Beijing Architecture University. Later, Beijing’s Public Housing Center invited Ma Yansong to design the Baiziwan Social Housing in 2014. MAD saw the commission as an opportunity to improve the living conditions of low-income communities and introduce a fresh perspective to the current dull residential design image in China.

Open Neighborhood. MAD’s strategy strives to integrate the community into the urban fabric and connect the neighborhood with the city. MAD divided the plot into six blocks, anchored by the main avenue cutting through the center of the site. The large site is fragmented into a much smaller human scale. At the street level, the scheme’s central avenue is home to a range of commercial and convenience spaces, such as shops, cafes, restaurants, kindergartens, pharmacies, bookstores, and elder care facilities. The arterial route through the center of the scheme fosters connections between the neighborhood and the city. With the human-scaled site planning and diversity of spaces, the design creates a vibrant and open urban life across the new neighborhood.

Floating Garden. While the ground level opens the site to a wider urban audience, the second level, only access to the residents, offers a communal outdoor landscape for residents. A pedestrian circuit weaves around all six blocks, forming a large above-ground park with a variety of communal functions including a gym, community gardens, badminton court, children’s playground, ecological sanctuary, and communal support services. In addition to the main residents’ park on the second floor, MAD’s scheme incorporates staggered half-floors and semi-opened gray spaces of various scales throughout the design. Despite the rigid green coverage ratio of residential design specifications and the high density required for city center living, the scheme strives to provide green coverage on ground level, the second-level park, and the rooftop, ensuring residents enjoy a holistic setting with strong connections to nature and the outdoors and achieving a green coverage of 47%. The standardized green coverage of the commercial residential compounds is 30%.

General Topography. These Y-shaped footprints combined with gradual stepping forms and staggered heights fabricate an overall “mountain” topography across the site. The interface between buildings forms semi-enclosed spaces, promoting a sense of intimacy and community across the site on a human scale. From afar, the scheme’s simple white façade and undulating mountain form create an enriching addition to the city skyline. The project’s 4000 residential units are comprised of six general typologies and three ultra-low energy consumption typologies, spanning areas of 40 square meters, 50 square meters, and 60 square meters. Light-coated board is used as the partitions between the rooms, enabling ease of maintenance and flexibility for decoration by residents.

Daylight Right. With the plot ratio of 3.5 and the height limit of 80 meters, the high density has caused many restrictions on the general layout for each unit’s daylight calculation. Throughout the design process, MAD sought to ensure that every tenantable room across the project would get sufficient sunlight. The resulting scheme, therefore, adopts a Y-branch building form, with communal corridors located along the north face of each building to enhance sunlight exposure in the residential units.

Prefabrication and Sustainability. Considering a more environmentally friendly construction process, the clients requires that over 80% of the building components should be prefabricated off-site. This prefabricated method allows for a higher quality of housing production in a controlled, systematized way. The scheme contains two ultra-low energy consumption buildings, also known as “passive housing,” with low heating and cooling loads, allowing the buildings to reduce energy consumption by 90%.

Towards New Residential. Over the past decades, China’s residential design and market have shifted dramatically. Rapid real estate development has led to the homogenization of residential design. Welfare-oriented housing development has not been considered a priority during the housing privatization period. Entering the new era that China advances its investment in social housing, for existing low-income urban dwellers and influx of migrants, MAD aspires to offer a design solution for a more humane, equal, and vibrant living environment.

Human is the aim of habitat. The notion encompasses dignity and social equity. The design concept for Baiziwan Social Housing integrates affordable housing communities with a universal ideal for a dignified living. It is achieved by a simple aesthetic. Baiziwan Social Housing is an important step forwards in ideal living in China.

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Address: beijing, china.

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MAD Architects unveils Baiziwan, a 12-building affordable housing development in Beijing

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Beijing ’s MAD Architects is best known stateside for its completed and in-progress Los Angeles projects: a greenery-cloaked ersatz mountaintop village  in Beverly Hills, a funicular-edged biomorphic office building set to rise above Sunset Boulevard, and a spaceship- cum -museum that, after considerable delay, will land in Exposition Park next year .

Back home, the Ma Yansong-led firm recently revealed Baiziwan (Baiziwan Social Housing), a sprawling affordable housing development spanning 12 apartment towers and more than 23 acres on the fringes of Beijing’s central business district. MAD has heralded the project, which is open to young professionals and citizens receiving assistance from the state, as “an important step forwards [sic] ideal living in China.”

First commissioned in 2014 by the Beijing Public Housing Center, an entity that ranks as the largest owner and operator of public rental housing in the Chinese capital city, Baiziwan marks the first-ever completed affordable housing project for MAD and is described by the firm as being the “culmination” of Yansong’s international-in-scope research into the development and design of social housing.

Dubbed “The Sociality of Social Housing,” MAD’s research has been further informed by Yansong’s “own engagements with this subject while teaching at Tsinghua University and the Beijing Architecture University,” as the firm noted in a press release. With the Beijing Public Housing Center commission, MAD embraced the “opportunity to improve the living conditions of low-income communities and introduce a fresh perspective to the current dull residential design image in China.”

The firm elaborated:

“Over the past decades, China’s residential design and market have shifted dramatically. Rapid real estate development has led to the homogenization of residential design. Welfare-oriented housing development has not been considered as priority during the housing privatization period. Entering the new era that China advances its investment in social housing, for existing low-income urban dwellers and influx of migrants, MAD aspires to offer a design solution for a more humane, equal, and vibrant living environment.”

Divided into six blocks as a means of fragmenting the immense scale of the development, Baiziwan’s dozen Y-shaped apartment buildings accommodate a total of 4,000 households—since its completion earlier this year, the ground-up neighborhood is 75 percent occupied. A broad and leafy avenue cleaving through the middle of Baiziwan is lined by a range of shops, restaurants, schools, medical clinics, elder care facilities, and much more. While the street level is accessible to all, Baiziwan residents also have exclusive access to a raised pedestrian walkway that winds throughout the compound, fusing together all six blocks and featuring a swath of elevated parkland complete with playgrounds, community gardens, sports courts, and an “ecological sanctuary.”

Between the greenery offered at street level, the pedestrian circuit-linked “floating gardens,” and vegetation-clad rooftops, Baiziwan’s total green coverage is 47 percent—a full 17 percent higher than the standard for residential developments in Beijing, according to the firm.

As for the 4,000 residential units themselves, they range between roughly 430 square feet and 646 square feet and enjoy ample natural light thanks to each tower’s Y-shaped footprint. Built predominately from prefabricated elements, the white facade-clad towers vary in height and their stepped forms evoke what MAD has called a “mountain” topography in the heart of Beijing. A pair of the towers enjoy “ultra-low energy low consumption” and are built to passivhaus design standards.

As noted by MAD, which also operates offices in L.A. and Rome in addition to Beijing, the design concept for Baiziwan Social Housing “integrates affordable housing communities with a universal ideal for dignified living.”

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MAD architects' first social housing project integrates green spaces and a floating park

A micro-neighborhood of social housing in beijing.

MAD Architects presents its first-ever social housing project, dubbed Baiziwan, in its home city of Beijing . The expansive development comprises twelve residential buildings which together meander across the site, all connected by a network of elevated walkways and web-like ‘floating park.’ The work stands as the culmination of an eight-year research study of social housing by the studio’s founder Ma Yansong, which especially focused on the historical development and design of social housing across a range of countries.

The project is located near the Central Business District of the Chinese capital city, and is divided into six blocks, its divisions informed by the surrounding city grid. This strategy forms a micro-neighborhood which is still integrated into the community.

a floating park of communal spaces

The architects at MAD organize the Baiziwan Social Housing project as an open, vertical neighborhood comprising communal outdoor areas. At the level of the street the neighborhood is accessible to the public, while the second level reserves park spaces for residents only. This elevated park weaves between all six blocks and integrates a gym, community gardens, a badminton court, children’s playground, ecological sanctuary, and communal support services.

The development further incorporates staggered half-floors and semi-opened gray spaces of various scales. The team ensures that the ground level, the second-level park, and rooftop, all integrate green coverage so that residents can enjoy a strong connection with nature and the outdoors throughout the neighborhood.

mad architects’ new topography: a mountain range in beijing

Hosting 4,000 apartments — with 3,000 families already moved in — MAD architects’ social housing project takes shape as a cluster of Y-shaped buildings. Together, the stepping geometries suggest a new, mountainous topography within its urban context. The in-between spaces form intimate, semi-enclosed areas which create a sense of community across the large site at a human scale. From a distance, the simple white façades and mountainous profile seem like a natural landform among the city skyline.

‘The project’s 4000 residential units are comprised of six general typologies and three ultra-low energy consumption typologies, spanning areas of 40 square meters, 50 square meters, and 60 square meters. Light-coated board is used as the partitions between the rooms, enabling ease of maintenance and flexibility for decoration by residents.’

living spaces flooded with sunlight

The buildings’ Y-shaped footprint was thoughtfully shaped to best ensure natural sunlight penetration into each living space. ‘ With the plot ratio of 3.5 and the height limit of 80 meters, the high density has caused many restrictions on general layout for each unit’s daylight calculation, ‘ notes the team. The branching building form resulted, integrating communal corridors along the north face of each building to enhance sunlight exposure in the residential units.  

prefabrication and sustainability

MAD architects’ clients had required that over 80% of the building components be prefabricated off-site, resulting in a more environmentally friendly construction. This method of prefabrication proved a higher quality of housing as each unit was completed in a controlled, systematized process. The architects note that two of the twelve buildings operate with ultra-low energy consumption. These two passive buildings require low heating and cooling loads, and have seen a 90% reduction in energy consumption compared with the other ten buildings.  

image by CreatAR images

image by ArchExist

image by Zhu Yumeng

project info:

project title:  Baiziwan Social Housing

architecture:  MAD Architects | @madarchitects

location: Beijing, China

completion:  2021

photography:  ArchExist, Xia Zhi, CreatAR Images, Zhu Yumeng

principal partners in charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano associate partners: Liu Huiying, Fu Changrui design team: He Xiaokang, Zheng Chengwen, Shang Li, Xu Chen, Li Guangchong, Wang Deyuan, Zheng Fang, Tong Shangren, Mujung Kang, Zhang Tingfu, Zhang Long, Zhang Kai, Kazushi Miyamoto, Yukan Yanagawa, Yu Zhipeng, Tomasz Czarnecki, Davide Signorato, Natalia Giacomino, Sear Nee, Yuan Yiwen, Steven Chaffer Park, Dookee Chung, Hiroki Fujino, Jiang Xuezhu, Chen Luman, Dina Khaki, Yang Xuebing

client: Beijing Public Housing Construction and Investment Center construction drawings: Beijing Institute of Architectural Design landscape design: Earthasia Design Group (shanghai) lighting design: Beijing Ning Field Lighting Design Corp. Ltd signage design: NDC China, Inc structure consultant: CCDI International Design Consultants Co., Ltd. first stage construction: Beijing Uni.-Construction Group Co., Ltd second stage construction: Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co., Ltd supervisory organization: Beijing Innovation Construction Engineering Management Co., Ltd prefabrication production: Beijing Yantong Construction Components Co., Ltd

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Mad built its first social housing project in beijing, china architecture news - jun 21, 2022 - 11:59   3573 views.

Chinese architecture practice MAD has built its first social housing project in Beijing, China . 

Named Baiziwan Social Housing (later referred to as Baiziwan), the new complex is the first affordable housing project by MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong , who recently spoke to WAC's China Country Reporter Flora Jing Lin Ng in WAC's Instagram. 

The new social housing is situated near the CBD (Central Business District) in Beijing. The project covers the area of 93,900 square meters and a total construction area reaches at 473,300 square meters. 

Image © CreatAR Images

MAD places commercial spaces on the first level and designs community spaces on the second level. A sweeping red-colored walking pathway and running track spans throughout the complex - and partly turns into an elevated park or bridges.

The studio divides the plot into six blocks derived from the city grid and it consists of 12 residential buildings collectively providing 4,000 apartment units. 

Image © Zhu Yumeng

MAD stated that since its completion, almost 3,000 families have moved in. In addition, the project offers dwellings for welfare dependents and young professionals.

The project emerges as a culmination of Ma Yansong’s extensive research into social housing, which began in 2014. 

Under the thematic topic “The Sociality of Social Housing,” MAD’s research explores the historical development and design of social housing across different countries. The research has been further developed by Ma Yansong’s own engagements with this subject while teaching at Tsinghua University and the Beijing Architecture University.

Later, Beijing’s Public Housing Center invited Ma Yansong to design the Baiziwan Social Housing in 2014. 

According to MAD, this commission offered an opportunity to improve the living conditions of low-income communities and introduce a fresh perspective to the current dull residential design image in China.

Image © ArchExist

The scheme connects the existing urban fabric and the neighborhood with city. The six blocks features a main avenue cutting through the center of the site. The large site is fragmented into a much smaller human scale. 

At street level, the central avenue incorporates a range of commercial and convenience spaces, such as shops, cafes, restaurants, kindergartens, pharmacies, bookstores, and elder care facilities. 

The arterial route through the center of the scheme fosters connections between the neighborhood and city. With the human-scaled site planning and diversity of spaces, the design creates a vibrant and open urban life across the new neighborhood.  

MAD creates "floating garden"

MAD opens the ground level to a wider urban audience, and the second level can only be accessed by the residents and offers a communal outdoor landscape for residents. 

A red-colored pedestrian circuit weaves around all six blocks, forming a large above-ground park with a variety of communal functions including a gym, community gardens, badminton court, children’s playground, ecological sanctuary, and communal support services. 

In addition to the main residents’ park on the second floor, MAD’s scheme incorporates staggered half-floors and semi-opened gray spaces of various scales throughout the design. 

Despite the rigid green coverage ratio of residential design specifications and the high density required for city center living, the scheme strives to provide green coverage on ground level, the second-level park, and rooftop, ensuring residents enjoy a holistic setting with strong connections to nature and the outdoors and achieving a green coverage of 47 per cent. 

The standardized green coverage of the commercial residential compounds is 30 per cent. 

The blocks have Y-shaped footprints that combine with gradual stepping forms and staggered heights which fabricates an overall “mountain” topography across the site. 

The interface between buildings form semi-enclosed spaces, promoting a sense of intimacy and community across the site on a human scale," said MAD.

"From afar, the scheme’s simple white façade and undulating mountain form creates an enriching addition to the city skyline."

The project’s 4,000 residential units are distributed in six general typologies where three of them are ultra-low energy consumption typologies, spanning areas of 40 square meters, 50 square meters, and 60 square meters. 

The studio used light-coated board as the partitions between the rooms, enabling ease of maintenance and flexibility for decoration by residents.

Daylight Right  

"With the plot ratio of 3.5 and the height limit of 80 meters, the high density has caused many restrictions on general layout for each unit’s daylight calculation," MAD added.

Throughout the design process, the studio sought to ensure that every room across the project should get sufficient sunlight. 

The resulting scheme therefore adopts a Y-branch building form, with communal corridors located along the north face of each building to enhance sunlight exposure in the residential units. 

Prefabrication and Sustainability

MAD also followed the principles of environmentally friendly construction process, the brief of the clients required that over 80 per cent of the building components should be prefabricated off-site. 

According to the studio, "this prefabricated method allows for a higher quality of housing production in a controlled, systematized way."

The scheme contains two ultra-low energy consumption buildings, also known as “passive housing,” with low heating and cooling loads, allowing the buildings to reduce energy consumption by 90 per cent. 

Towards New Residential

MAD explained that "Over the past decades, China’s residential design and market have shifted dramatically. Rapid real estate development has led to the homogenization of residential design." 

"Welfare-oriented housing development has not been considered as priority during the housing privatization period." 

Entering the new era that China advances its investment in social housing, for existing low-income urban dwellers and influx of migrants, MAD aspires to offer a design solution for a more humane, equal, and vibrant living environment. 

Video by Blackstation.

"Human is the aim of habitat," MAD continued. 

"The notion encompasses dignity and social equity. The design concept for Baiziwan Social Housing integrates affordable housing communities with a universal ideal for dignified living." 

This project is achieved by a simple aesthetic and Baiziwan Social Housing is an important step forwards ideal living in China.

Vertical community diagram

Function diagram

Prefabricated construction exploded diagram

A1 apt layout diagram

E apt layout diagram

Y1 apt layout diagram

Y2 apt layout diagram

Signage System Design

Project facts

Project name: Baiziwan Social Housing

Architects:  MAD

Location:  Beijing, China

Date:  2014-2021

Category:  Social housing

Total Construction Area:  473,346 square meters

Aboveground Building Area:  303,351 square meters

Underground Building Area:  169,995 square meters

Principal Partners in Charge:  Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano 

Associate Partners:  Liu Huiying, Fu Changrui

Design Team:  He Xiaokang, Zheng Chengwen, Shang Li, Xu Chen, Li Guangchong, Wang Deyuan, Zheng Fang, Tong Shangren, Mujung Kang, Zhang Tingfu, Zhang Long, Zhang Kai, Kazushi Miyamoto, Yukan Yanagawa, Yu Zhipeng, Tomasz Czarnecki, Davide Signorato, Natalia Giacomino, Sear Nee, Yuan Yiwen, Steven Chaffer Park, Dookee Chung, Hiroki Fujino, Jiang Xuezhu, Chen Luman, Dina Khaki, Yang Xuebing

Client:  Beijing Public Housing Construction and Investment Center

Design of Construction Drawings:  Beijing Institute of Architectural Design

Landscape Design: Earthasia Design Group (shanghai)

Lighting Design:  Beijing Ning Field Lighting Design Corp. Ltd

Signage Design: NDC China, Inc

Structure Consultant:  CCDI International Design Consultants Co., Ltd.

First Stage construction:  Beijing Uni.-Construction Group Co., Ltd

Second Stage Construction: Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co., Ltd

Supervisory organization:  Beijing Innovation Construction Engineering Management Co., Ltd

Prefabrication Production:  Beijing Yantong Construction Components Co., Ltd

Top image © ArchExist

All drawings © MAD

> via MAD  

affordable housing Beijing MAD social housing

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MAD’s first social housing project Baiziwan integrates community into urban fabric

by Jincy Iype Published on : Jun 29, 2022

With a strategy striving to integrate community into urban fabric as well as link neighbourhood with city, the expansive Baiziwan Social Housing becomes the first completed affordable housing project conceived by Ma Yansong -led MAD Architects. Comprising 12 Y-shaped residential towers collectively providing 4,000 households, the scheme offers dwellings for welfare dependants and young professionals. "Since its completion, almost 3000 families have moved in," reveals the Beijing-based firm. With Baiziwan , Yansong’s effort is to help diversify and variegate the typical design typologies of China’s residential housing.

The project embodies the culmination of extensive research on social housing carried out by Yansong since 2014, in the course of his own engagements and lectures held at Tsinghua University and Beijing Architecture University, and addressing the topic of affordable social housing . "Under the thematic topic The Sociality of Social Housing , (the) research focuses on the historical development and design of social housing across different countries,” shares the design team.

Also referred to as just Baiziwan , the project rises near the Central Business District (CBD) in Beijing , China , encompassing an area of 93,900 sqm, with a total construction of 473,300 sqm. "Later, Beijing’s Public Housing Center invited Ma Yansong to design the Baiziwan Social Housing in 2014. MAD saw the commission as an opportunity to improve the living conditions of low-income communities and introduce a fresh perspective to the current dull residential design image in China," they continue.

The large plot was apportioned into six blocks, fragmented into much smaller parts according to human scale, and anchored by a main avenue cutting through its centre. A range of commercial and convenience spaces, such as shops, cafes, restaurants, kindergartens, pharmacies, bookstores, and elder care facilities take residence in the scheme's central avenue, at street level. The arterial route formed through the centre cultivates connections between the neighbourhood and the city. "With the human-scaled site planning and diversity of spaces, the design creates a vibrant and open urban life across the new neighbourhood," relays MAD Architects .

As the ground floor opens up the site to the wider urban audience and context, the second level becomes a communal outdoor landscape, purely for the residents. A pedestrian circuit rendered in bright red weaves around all six blocks to link them, forming a substantial, above-ground park, a "floating garden", with a variety of communal functions including a gym, community gardens, badminton court, children’s playground, ecological sanctuary, and communal support services, to enliven the conventional-looking apartment blocks. 

Staggered half floors and semi-opened grey spaces of various scales also integrate themselves throughout the Chinese architecture . "Despite the rigid green coverage ratio of residential design specifications and the high density required for city-centre living, the scheme strives to provide green coverage on ground level, the second-level park, and rooftop, ensuring residents enjoy a holistic setting with strong connections to nature and the outdoors and achieving a green coverage of 47 per cent. The standardised green coverage of the commercial residential compounds is 30 per cent," informs Yansong.

"Over the past decades, China’s residential design and market have shifted dramatically. Rapid real estate development has led to the homogenisation of residential design. Welfare-oriented housing development has not been considered a priority during the housing privatisation period. Entering the new era that China advances its investment in social housing, for existing low-income urban dwellers and influx of migrants, MAD aspires to offer a design solution for a more humane, equal, and vibrant living environment,” the Chinese architect elaborates. 

Baiziwan’s 4,000 residential units encompass six general spatial typologies, along with three ultra-low energy consumption ones, spanning areas of 40 sqm, 50 sqm, and 60 sqm. The Baiziwan Social Housing also contains three ultra-low energy consumption buildings (across two-unit typologies), also called "passive housing", with low heating and cooling loads, allowing the buildings to reduce energy consumption by a whopping 90 per cent. Light-coated board is employed for partitions between these rooms, ensuring ease of maintenance and flexibility for decoration and customisation by the residents.

The firm relays that throughout the design process they aimed to ensure that each tenantable room would receive sufficient daylight, since the plot ratio of 3.5 and a height limit of 80 meters, the high density caused many restrictions on the general layout for each unit’s daylight calculation. “The resulting scheme, therefore, adopts a Y-branch building form, with communal corridors located along the north face of each building to enhance sunlight exposure in the residential units," says Yansong.

These "Y-shaped" footprints combine with gradual stepping forms and staggered heights, to arrive at an overall “mountain” topography across the project. The formed interfaces between buildings create semi-enclosed spaces, fostering a sense of intimacy and community. From afar, the housing’s simple white façade is provided dynamism to the undulating mountain form, cohesively becoming an enriching addition to the city’s skyline.

To build more sustainably and adopt a more environment-friendly construction process, the clients requested that at least 80 per cent of the housing’s elements be prefabricated off-site. According to the architects, this method allowed for a higher quality of housing production “in a controlled, systematised way.”

"Human is the aim of habitat. The notion encompasses dignity and social equity. The design concept for Baiziwan Social Housing integrates affordable housing communities with a universal ideal for a dignified living. It is achieved by a simple aesthetic. Baiziwan Social Housing is an important step forwards in ideal living in China,” concludes Yansong.

Project Details

Name: Baiziwan Social Housing Location: Beijing, China Area: 473,346 sqm (Total Construction Area); 303,351 sqm (Aboveground Building Area); 169,995 sqm (Underground Building Area) Client: Beijing Public Housing Construction and Investment Center Year of completion: 2021 Architect: MAD Architects Principal Partners in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano  Associate Partners: Liu Huiying, Fu Changrui Design Team: He Xiaokang, Zheng Chengwen, Shang Li, Xu Chen, Li Guangchong, Wang Deyuan, Zheng Fang, Tong Shangren, Mujung Kang, Zhang Tingfu, Zhang Long, Zhang Kai, Kazushi Miyamoto, Yukan Yanagawa, Yu Zhipeng, Tomasz Czarnecki, Davide Signorato, Natalia Giacomino, Sear Nee, Yuan Yiwen, Steven Chaffer Park, Dookee Chung, Hiroki Fujino, Jiang Xuezhu, Chen Luman, Dina Khaki, Yang Xuebing Design of Construction Drawings: Beijing Institute of Architectural Design Landscape Design: Earthasia Design Group (shanghai) Lighting Design: Beijing Ning Field Lighting Design Corp. Ltd Signage Design: NDC China, Inc Structure Consultant: CCDI International Design Consultants Co., Ltd. First Stage construction: Beijing Uni.-Construction Group Co., Ltd Second Stage Construction: Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co., Ltd Supervisory organisation: Beijing Innovation Construction Engineering Management Co., Ltd Prefabrication Production: Beijing Yantong Construction Components Co., Ltd

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Jincy writes and researches content centred on the best of global design and architecture. An architect by training, she enjoys picking the minds of creatives and weaving their ideas and works onto worded tapestries.

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• 19 June 2022
• 5291 defa okundu.

MAD Reveals Their First Social Housing Project

Baiziwan Social Housing (later referred to as Baiziwan) is the first affordable housing project by MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong. Situated near the CBD (central business district) in Beijing, the project covers the area of 93,900 square meters, with a total construction area of 473,300 square meters.

The scheme is comprised of 12 residential buildings collectively providing 4000 households. Since its completion, almost 3000 families have moved in. The project offers dwellings for welfare dependents and young professionals.

The project is a culmination of Ma Yansong’s extensive research into social housing, which began in 2014. Under the thematic topic “The Sociality of Social Housing,” MAD’s research focuses on the historical development and design of social housing across different countries. The research has been further developed by Ma Yansong’s own engagements with this subject while teaching at Tsinghua University and the Beijing Architecture University.

Later, Beijing’s Public Housing Center invited Ma Yansong to design the Baiziwan Social Housing in 2014. MAD saw the commission as an opportunity to improve the living conditions of low-income communities and introduce a fresh perspective to the current dull residential design image in China.

Open Neighborhood

MAD’s strategy strives to integrate the community into the urban fabric and connect the neighborhood with city. MAD divided the plot into six blocks, anchored by a main avenue cutting through the center of the site. The large site is fragmented into a much smaller human scale.

At street level, the scheme’s central avenue is home to a range of commercial and convenience spaces, such as shops, cafes, restaurants, kindergartens, pharmacies, bookstores, and elder care facilities. The arterial route through the center of the scheme fosters connections between the neighborhood and city. With the human-scaled site planning and diversity of spaces, the design creates a vibrant and open urban life across the new neighborhood.

Floating Garden

While the ground level opens the site to a wider urban audience, the second level, only access to the residents, offers a communal outdoor landscape for residents. A pedestrian circuit weaves around all six blocks, forming a large above-ground park with a variety of communal functions including a gym, community gardens, badminton court, children’s playground, ecological sanctuary, and communal support services.

In addition to the main residents’ park on the second floor, MAD’s scheme incorporates staggered half-floors and semi-opened gray spaces of various scales throughout the design. Despite the rigid green coverage ratio of residential design specifications and the high density required for city center living, the scheme strives to provide green coverage on ground level, the second-level park, and rooftop, ensuring residents enjoy a holistic setting with strong connections to nature and the outdoors and achieving a green coverage of 47%. The standardized green coverage of the commercial residential compounds is 30%.

General Topography

These Y-shaped footprints combine with gradual stepping forms and staggered heights fabricates an overall “mountain” topography across the site. The interface between buildings form semi-enclosed spaces, promoting a sense of intimacy and community across the site on a human scale. From afar, the scheme’s simple white façade and undulating mountain form creates an enriching addition to the city skyline.

The project’s 4000 residential units are comprised of six general typologies and three ultra-low energy consumption typologies, spanning areas of 40 square meters, 50 square meters, and 60 square meters. Light-coated board is used as the partitions between the rooms, enabling ease of maintenance and flexibility for decoration by residents.

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Baiziwan Social Housing Beijing by MAD

Baiziwan Social Housing Beijing Building by MAD Architects, New Chinese Architecture Design Photos

Baiziwan Social Housing Beijing Building News

20 June 2022

MAD Reveals their First Social Housing Project

Design: MAD Architects

Location: Beijing, Northern China

Baiziwan Social Housing in Beijing by MAD, China

Baiziwan Social Housing (later referred to as Baiziwan) is the first affordable housing project by MAD Architects , led by Ma Yansong. Situated near the CBD (central business district) in Beijing, the project covers the area of 93,900 square meters, with a total construction area of 473,300 square meters. The scheme is comprised of 12 residential buildings collectively providing 4000 households. Since its completion, almost 3000 families have moved in. The project offers dwellings for welfare dependents and young professionals.

The project is a culmination of Ma Yansong’s extensive research into social housing, which began in 2014. Under the thematic topic “The Sociality of Social Housing,” MAD’s research focuses on the historical development and design of social housing across different countries. The research has been further developed by Ma Yansong’s own engagements with this subject while teaching at Tsinghua University and the Beijing Architecture University.

Later, Beijing’s Public Housing Center invited Ma Yansong to design the Baiziwan Social Housing in 2014. MAD saw the commission as an opportunity to improve the living conditions of low-income communities and introduce a fresh perspective to the current dull residential design image in China.

Open Neighborhood

MAD’s strategy strives to integrate the community into the urban fabric and connect the neighborhood with city. MAD divided the plot into six blocks, anchored by a main avenue cutting through the center of the site. The large site is fragmented into a much smaller human scale.

At street level, the scheme’s central avenue is home to a range of commercial and convenience spaces, such as shops, cafes, restaurants, kindergartens, pharmacies, bookstores, and elder care facilities. The arterial route through the center of the scheme fosters connections between the neighborhood and city. With the human-scaled site planning and diversity of spaces, the design creates a vibrant and open urban life across the new neighborhood.

Floating Garden

While the ground level opens the site to a wider urban audience, the second level, only access to the residents, offers a communal outdoor landscape for residents. A pedestrian circuit weaves around all six blocks, forming a large above-ground park with a variety of communal functions including a gym, community gardens, badminton court, children’s playground, ecological sanctuary, and communal support services.

In addition to the main residents’ park on the second floor, MAD’s scheme incorporates staggered half-floors and semi-opened gray spaces of various scales throughout the design. Despite the rigid green coverage ratio of residential design specifications and the high density required for city center living, the scheme strives to provide green coverage on ground level, the second-level park, and rooftop, ensuring residents enjoy a holistic setting with strong connections to nature and the outdoors and achieving a green coverage of 47%. The standardized green coverage of the commercial residential compounds is 30%.

General Topography

These Y-shaped footprints combine with gradual stepping forms and staggered heights fabricates an overall “mountain” topography across the site. The interface between buildings form semi-enclosed spaces, promoting a sense of intimacy and community across the site on a human scale. From afar, the scheme’s simple white façade and undulating mountain form creates an enriching addition to the city skyline.

The project’s 4000 residential units are comprised of six general typologies and three ultra-low energy consumption typologies, spanning areas of 40 square meters, 50 square meters, and 60 square meters. Light-coated board is used as the partitions between the rooms, enabling ease of maintenance and flexibility for decoration by residents.

Daylight Right

With the plot ratio of 3.5 and the height limit of 80 meters, the high density has caused many restrictions on general layout for each unit’s daylight calculation. Throughout the design process, MAD sought to ensure that every tenantable room across the project would get sufficient sunlight. The resulting scheme therefore adopts a Y-branch building form, with communal corridors located along the north face of each building to enhance sunlight exposure in the residential units.

Prefabrication and Sustainability

Considering a more environmentally friendly construction process, the clients requires that over 80% of the building components should be prefabricated off-site. This prefabricated method allows for a higher quality of housing production in a controlled, systematized way.

The scheme contains two ultra-low energy consumption buildings, also known as “passive housing,” with low heating and cooling loads, allowing the buildings to reduce energy consumption by 90%.

Towards New Residential

Over the past decades, China’s residential design and market have shifted dramatically. Rapid real estate development has led to the homogenization of residential design. Welfare-oriented housing development has not been considered as priority during the housing privatization period. Entering the new era that China advances its investment in social housing, for existing low-income urban dwellers and influx of migrants, MAD aspires to offer a design solution for a more humane, equal, and vibrant living environment.

Human is the aim of habitat. The notion encompasses dignity and social equity. The design concept for Baiziwan Social Housing integrates affordable housing communities with a universal ideal for dignified living. It is achieved by a simple aesthetic. Baiziwan Social Housing is an important step forwards ideal living in China.

Baiziwan Social Housing, Beijing, China – Building Information

Location: Beijing, China Dates: 2014-2021 Category: Social housing Total Construction Area: 473,346 square meters Aboveground Building Area: 303,351 square meters Underground Building Area: 169,995 square meters

Principal Partners in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano Associate Partners: Liu Huiying, Fu Changrui Design Team: He Xiaokang, Zheng Chengwen, Shang Li, Xu Chen, Li Guangchong, Wang Deyuan, Zheng Fang, Tong Shangren, Mujung Kang, Zhang Tingfu, Zhang Long, Zhang Kai, Kazushi Miyamoto, Yukan Yanagawa, Yu Zhipeng, Tomasz Czarnecki, Davide Signorato, Natalia Giacomino, Sear Nee, Yuan Yiwen, Steven Chaffer Park, Dookee Chung, Hiroki Fujino, Jiang Xuezhu, Chen Luman, Dina Khaki, Yang Xuebing

Client: Beijing Public Housing Construction and Investment Center Design of Construction Drawings: Beijing Institute of Architectural Design Landscape Design: Earthasia Design Group (shanghai) Lighting Design: Beijing Ning Field Lighting Design Corp. Ltd Signage Design: NDC China, Inc Structure Consultant: CCDI International Design Consultants Co., Ltd. First Stage construction: Beijing Uni.-Construction Group Co., Ltd Second Stage Construction: Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co., Ltd Supervisory organization: Beijing Innovation Construction Engineering Management Co., Ltd Prefabrication Production: Beijing Yantong Construction Components Co., Ltd

MAD Architects

Baiziwan Social Housing Beijing by MAD images / information received 200622 from MAD Architects

Location: Beijing , People’s Republic of China

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Baiziwan Social Housing

Baiziwan Social Housing (later referred to as Baiziwan) is the first affordable housing project by MAD Architects, led by Ma Yansong. Situated near the CBD (central business district) in Beijing, the project covers the area of 93,900 square meters, with a total construction area of 473,300 square meters. The scheme is comprised of 12 residential buildings collectively providing 4000 households. Since its completion, almost 3000 families have moved in. The project offers dwellings for welfare dependents and young professionals. The project is a culmination of Ma Yansong’s extensive research into social housing, which began in 2014. Under the thematic topic “The Sociality of Social Housing,” MAD’s research focuses on the historical development and design of social housing across different countries. The research has been further developed by Ma Yansong’s own engagements with this subject while teaching at Tsinghua University and the Beijing Architecture University. Later, Beijing’s Public Housing Center invited Ma Yansong to design the Baiziwan Social Housing in 2014. MAD saw the commission as an opportunity to improve the living conditions of low-income communities and introduce a fresh perspective to the current dull residential design image in China. Open Neighborhood MAD’s strategy strives to integrate the community into the urban fabric and connect the neighborhood with city. MAD divided the plot into six blocks, anchored by a main avenue cutting through the center of the site. The large site is fragmented into a much smaller human scale. At street level, the scheme’s central avenue is home to a range of commercial and convenience spaces, such as shops, cafes, restaurants, kindergartens, pharmacies, bookstores, and elder care facilities. The arterial route through the center of the scheme fosters connections between the neighborhood and city. With the human-scaled site planning and diversity of spaces, the design creates a vibrant and open urban life across the new neighborhood. Floating Garden While the ground level opens the site to a wider urban audience, the second level, only access to the residents, offers a communal outdoor landscape for residents. A pedestrian circuit weaves around all six blocks, forming a large above-ground park with a variety of communal functions including a gym, community gardens, badminton court, children’s playground, ecological sanctuary, and communal support services. In addition to the main residents’ park on the second floor, MAD’s scheme incorporates staggered half-floors and semi-opened gray spaces of various scales throughout the design. Despite the rigid green coverage ratio of residential design specifications and the high density required for city center living, the scheme strives to provide green coverage on ground level, the second-level park, and rooftop, ensuring residents enjoy a holistic setting with strong connections to nature and the outdoors and achieving a green coverage of 47%. The standardized green coverage of the commercial residential compounds is 30%. General Topography These Y-shaped footprints combine with gradual stepping forms and staggered heights fabricates an overall “mountain” topography across the site. The interface between buildings form semi-enclosed spaces, promoting a sense of intimacy and community across the site on a human scale. From afar, the scheme’s simple white façade and undulating mountain form creates an enriching addition to the city skyline. The project’s 4000 residential units are comprised of six general typologies and three ultra-low energy consumption typologies, spanning areas of 40 square meters, 50 square meters, and 60 square meters. Light-coated board is used as the partitions between the rooms, enabling ease of maintenance and flexibility for decoration by residents. Daylight Right With the plot ratio of 3.5 and the height limit of 80 meters, the high density has caused many restrictions on general layout for each unit’s daylight calculation. Throughout the design process, MAD sought to ensure that every tenantable room across the project would get sufficient sunlight. The resulting scheme therefore adopts a Y-branch building form, with communal corridors located along the north face of each building to enhance sunlight exposure in the residential units. Prefabrication and Sustainability Considering a more environmentally friendly construction process, the clients requires that over 80% of the building components should be prefabricated off-site. This prefabricated method allows for a higher quality of housing production in a controlled, systematized way. The scheme contains two ultra-low energy consumption buildings, also known as “passive housing,” with low heating and cooling loads, allowing the buildings to reduce energy consumption by 90%. Towards New Residential Over the past decades, China’s residential design and market have shifted dramatically. Rapid real estate development has led to the homogenization of residential design. Welfare-oriented housing development has not been considered as priority during the housing privatization period. Entering the new era that China advances its investment in social housing, for existing low-income urban dwellers and influx of migrants, MAD aspires to offer a design solution for a more humane, equal, and vibrant living environment. Human is the aim of habitat. The notion encompasses dignity and social equity. The design concept for Baiziwan Social Housing integrates affordable housing communities with a universal ideal for dignified living. It is achieved by a simple aesthetic. Baiziwan Social Housing is an important step forwards ideal living in China. CREDITS Principal Partners in Charge: Ma Yansong, Dang Qun, Yosuke Hayano Associate Partners: Liu Huiying, Fu Changrui Design Team: He Xiaokang, Zheng Chengwen, Shang Li, Xu Chen, Li Guangchong, Wang Deyuan, Zheng Fang, Tong Shangren, Mujung Kang, Zhang Tingfu, Zhang Long, Zhang Kai, Kazushi Miyamoto, Yukan Yanagawa, Yu Zhipeng, Tomasz Czarnecki, Davide Signorato, Natalia Giacomino, Sear Nee, Yuan Yiwen, Steven Chaffer Park, Dookee Chung, Hiroki Fujino, Jiang Xuezhu, Chen Luman, Dina Khaki, Yang Xuebing

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