心田里书房—House over House，苏州 / Wutopia Lab
▼立面，Facade
心田里书房于2024年2月落成开放，是我们在林渡暖村设计建成的第三栋房子，是苏州伴宅和大山·博物志民宿的延续。
Heart Fields opened in February 2024. It is the third building we have designed and built in Lindu Warm Village, as a continuation of Section Homestay and Mountain Muse Lodging & Nature.
▼鸟瞰，aerial view
场地 Site
场地是一个坐落着苏州郊区的由三栋荒废房子和庭院组成的宅院。业主希望能保留入口第一栋房子及屋后的水井，以此延续着原有入口空间的宜人尺度和生活记忆，其余拆除重建。
The site is a compound of three abandoned houses and a courtyard located in the suburbs of Suzhou. The client requested that the first house at the entrance and the well behind it be preserved, so as to retain the pleasant scale and living memories of the original entry space. The rest was to be deconstructed and rebuilt.
▼分析图，Diagram
困惑 Initial Challenges
如何设计乡村书店一直是我的困惑。最近几年涌现出很多乡村书店，大家都在表达各自对于乡村的理解，其中不乏优秀的设计，但还是有很多或囿于不分地域地使用夯土墙之类符号，或刻意营造出白墙所谓的精致感，或刻意营造出粗糙的清水混凝土，或沉迷于所谓乡村元素的缝合。这些乡村书店书店莫名奇妙地成了乡村建设的“导向”，甚至还有人将其称作“地域主义”。显然，苏州的乡村书店不需要这样。
How to design a rural bookstore has long been a puzzle for me. In recent years, many rural bookstores have emerged, each expressing their own interpretation of the countryside. Among them are some excellent designs, but many others fall into clichés: using rammed-earth walls regardless of regional context, deliberately attempting to replicate the refined aesthetic of a white wall, forcing rough exposed concrete, or obsessively stitching together so-called rural elements. These rural bookstores have inexplicably become “guides” for rural construction, with some even labelling them “Regionalism.” Clearly, a rural bookstore in Suzhou does not need any of that.
▼鸟瞰，aerial view
破题 Breakthrough
在出差途中高铁换乘的间隙，我重新看了基地照片，注意到不同时期在立面上保留着的肌理，能帮助我看到各个时期的建造痕迹及相互关系，这是一个有趣的线索。依循着这个线索，让我们思考新建部分与保留建筑的的关系。我决定做一个干净利索的对偶，新建部分做成深色，保留部分延续原有的白色。
新、旧建筑间的体块，呈现出与前面肌理一致的独特的体块咬合嵌套关系，并留出一段缝隙。体块的收与放、颜色的黑与白，空间的公共与私密，形成对偶。
▼草图，Sketch
During a train transfer on a business trip, I revisited the site photos and noticed the textures retained on the surfaces from different periods. They revealed traces of construction and their interrelationships across time—an intriguing clue. Following this line of thought, I began to consider the relationship between the new addition and the existing building. I decided on a crisp, clear juxtaposition: the new construction will feature a dark finish, whereas the preserved section will retain white. The old and new structures exhibit a distinctive interlocking and nesting pattern that aligns with prior textures, separated by a space. These elements—volume expansion and contraction, black and white hues, and public vs. private areas—create a series of contrasting pairs.
▼鸟瞰，aerial view
▼改造前立面，Pre-renovation Facade
▼对比，Contrast
▼立面，Facade
布局 Layout
清晰的体块对比决定了书店的功能布局。改造之后的建筑分为前后两个体块，第一个体块是单层的坡屋顶房子，作为咖啡厅和图书馆。第二个体块的一层是被书架环绕的书店区和沙龙区，二层是民宿区。两个体块之间保留着一段缝隙，并用玻璃体块做了连接。首层的开放的空间贯穿整个建筑并连接场地，并在书店区设置了一个光井来引入天光。
The clear volumetric contrast determines the functional layout of the bookstore. The renovated building is divided into two main volumes. The first is a single-story pitched-roof house, housing a café and a library. The second volume contains, on the ground floor, a bookstore area surrounded by bookshelves and a salon area, with the homestay accommodation on the second floor. A gap is retained between the two volumes, bridged by a glass connector. The open space on the ground floor runs through the entire building and connects to the site, while a light well is placed in the bookstore area to bring in natural daylight.
▼连接体，Connector
▼咖啡厅，Café
▼咖啡厅&图书馆，Café & Library
▼图书馆，Library
▼保留的水井，Retained Well
▼书店，Bookstore
▼天光，Natural daylight
独一间 A Room of One’s Own
我特别喜欢藏在书架背后的民宿，因为“即使是在内心最信任的地方，也总有一个抗拒的空间，某些不能坦白的东西” 。面对这么小的建筑，如何通过组织交通来平衡公共与私密是一个要考虑的问题。首层是开放的书店空间，打开藏在书架中的暗门，每个房间都有专属的套内楼梯通往二楼。既解决了如何在局促的空间中布置四间民宿的平面组织难点，又能提升各房间之间的私密性。四个房间都是通过藏在书架背后的独立的楼梯通往二楼，彼此不会相互打扰。白天，客人也可悄悄打开书架上的暗门，进入自己的房间。晚上，书店区域也可以成为民宿客人独享的空间。南侧两个房间利用挑出来的楼板，做成可以“躺平”的斜坡露台。北侧在原有完成体块基础上做减法，设置了一个凹阳台，我最初是想做得更封闭一些，做一个朝向天空的阳台，甚至可以做一个私密的露天浴室，但业主希望与后边的场地能够更好地互动，开放一些更为稳妥。这样也挺好，设计师不能太偏执。
I particularly like the homestay rooms hidden behind the bookshelves, because “Even in the most trusted place within oneself, there is always a space of resistance, something that cannot be confessed.” Given the small scale of this building, balancing public and private through circulation planning was a key consideration. The ground floor is an open bookstore space. By opening the hidden doors tucked among the bookshelves, each room has its own private internal staircase leading to the second floor. This not only resolves the spatial difficulty of arranging four homestay rooms within a cramped footprint, but also enhances privacy between them. All four rooms are accessed via independent staircases concealed behind the bookshelves, so guests do not disturb one another. During the day, guests can quietly open the hidden doors on the bookshelves and enter their rooms. At night, the bookstore area can become a private space exclusively for the homestay guests. The two rooms on the south side make use of cantilevered floor slabs to create sloping terraces where one can “lie flat.” On the north side, a recessed balcony is carved out of the existing volume.. Initially, I wanted to make it more enclosed—a balcony open to the sky, or even a private open-air bath—but the client preferred a more open design to better interact with the rear site. This is fine. Designers shouldn’t be too stubborn.
▼阳台，Balcony
▼阳台，Balcony
▼客房，Homestay Room
▼夜景立面，Nocturnal Facade
静待 Waiting
这个项目我推迟了两年发布，我在以往项目里几乎不会这样做。我设计过很多书店，但却是第一次涉足乡村书店。我并不急着让她成为所谓的“网红”书店，我想好好观察一下。在这两年多的时间里，书店经营得很好，获得了诸多荣誉，如成功入选“2025江苏最美书店案例”， 被江苏省文化和旅游厅列为2025年度“新型公共文化空间”打造对象等。书店的联合创始人许涛也因其在乡村阅读推广的贡献，在第五届全民阅读大会上获评2026年“乡村阅读推广人”。我很欣慰大家能够喜欢这个低调克制的乡村书店。
I delayed the release of this project for two years—something I hardly ever do with my previous works. I have designed many bookstores, but this was my first venture into a rural one. I wasn’t in a hurry to make it a so-called “internet-famous” bookstore; I wanted to observe it carefully. Over these two years, the bookstore has operated very well and received numerous honors, such as being selected as one of the “2025 Jiangsu’s Most Beautiful Bookstore Cases” and designated as a “New Public Cultural Space” development target for 2025 by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism. Xu Tao, one of the bookstore’s co-founders, was also recognized as a “Rural Reading Promoter” for 2026 at the 5th National Reading Conference for his contributions to promoting reading in rural areas. I am glad that people have come to appreciate this understated and restrained rural bookstore.
▼鸟瞰，Aerial View
▼屋顶，Roof
▼顶视图，Top View
▼一层平面图，First floor plan
▼二层平面图，Second floor plan
项目信息
