Mansion Liu by Bob Chen Design Studio

A tailormade home for an advertising executive who is big on reusing: this is, in short, the client brief behind the Mansion Liu project by Chinese firm Bob Chen Design Studio in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province and boasting a population of more than 10 million.
The client Guang Liu recounts that his love of used pieces began about ten years ago, and he became so obsessed that he filled his office and warehouses with items that he then wanted to display. And what better way to respond to this need than to design a home around the pieces?
So, he and his friend, Bob Cheng, founder of Bob Chen Design Studio worked together on the project. “It’s all about durability and timeless beauty, isn’t it?” says Bob Chen, summing up his friend’s desire. After establishing the scale of the house, they then needed to create a fluid, accessible interior to find the best place for the items and still be able to move around with ease.
Each detail is the result of consultation with other experts: the cladding, the furnishings - since the home’s floor plan means made-to-measure furniture was required - and the landscaping. Because Mansion Liu also has a courtyard garden, which, as small as it is, has a very painstaking design created by Shenshan Landscape Design. Here, like the interiors, nothing has been left to chance. During the construction, the landscape designer Yu selected each stone, tree and flower with the client, because the materials are the key to the landscape design. After all, most of the landscape is formed of natural materials, which are incredibly uncontrollable, meaning plenty of experience was required to select them.
The overall project runs along the same lines as the philosophy of Bob Chen, where good design must work well and touch people’s hearts. In the case of Mansion Liu, too, the curiosity for people and property represented an excellent start for the project. Bob Chen knows full well the challenges posed to design when old materials meet new technologies, and traditions collide with modern needs.
The great thing about challenges is that they can lead to innovative and creative design solutions based on the centuries-old know-how of artisans, as we can see in the desk made according to the Fuzhou tradition of lacquered wood, or the cabinet that forms part of the sofa in the living room. This multipurpose piece of furniture incorporates everything required for the essential ritual of tea throughout the day, including water, power, teamaking devices and, of course, the tea itself.
Mansion Liu by Bob Chen Design Studio for Guang Liu has created a new blueprint for integrating resources, which elegantly bring together the traditional Chinese aesthetic and craftsmanship with modern design to deliver a contemporary home that expresses timeless beauty. A characteristic that is the key to the sustainability of every architectural concept, which, being indifferent to fads and fashions, won’t need many future interventions

Christiane Bürklein

Interior Project: Bob Chen Design Studio
Landscape: Shenshan Landscape Design
Location: Hangzhou
Year: 2019
Images: Wen Studio