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来建筑设计工作室 Atelier LAI

Based in Shanghai and Hefei, Atelier LAI crafts cultural pavilions and resort compounds defined by long boundary-walled thresholds, undulating roof profiles, and delicate timber and bamboo tectonics mirrored in integrated water features. This body of work provides a strong reference when detailing open-air water apertures, specifying angled timber column bracing, or organizing continuous courtyard walkways between clustered structures.

Aerial view of a long rural compound with dark pitched roofs, white walls, and internal courtyards set among agricultural fields in Shanghai by Atelier LAI.

深深深宅

上海 / 合肥

An aerial precedent for a linear rural courtyard compound that integrates contemporary vernacular massing with traditional spatial layering among agricultural fields.

What we like about this project
The exceptionally long, linear site organization creates a deep threshold sequence completely isolated from the adjacent fields by high white boundary walls.

Materials

  • stucco
  • clay-tile
  • timber
  • glass

Visual identifiers

  • linear-compound
  • courtyards
  • dark-pitched-roofs
  • white-perimeter-walls
  • rural-context

Style tags

  • contemporary-vernacular
  • contextual
  • rural-residential

Visual tags

  • aerial
  • rural
  • courtyard-house
  • vernacular-contemporary
  • agricultural-context
Geometry
An elongated compound divided into successive enclosed courtyards and pavilion volumes, aligned linearly along an agricultural plot next to a canal.
Facade system
White stucco exterior perimeter walls paired with dark tile gabled roofs and recessed openings.
Structural guess
Load-bearing masonry with timber or steel roof framing.
Spatial scale
Low-rise rural scale; single-to-two-story residential volumes spanning a long linear site footprint.
Lighting
Soft, hazy daylight casting long, low shadows across fields and roofs.
Atmosphere
Quiet, agrarian tranquility enveloping a structured sequence of walled domestic spaces.
Environmental context
Rural agricultural landscape of checkerboard fields, dispersed village houses, and intersecting canals.
Spatial experience
The aerial view reveals a sequence of protected outdoor and indoor rooms stepping away from the access road deeper into the agrarian landscape.
Composition rhythm
Repeating sequence of solid gabled volumes alternating with open white-walled courtyards.
Style reading
Contemporary rural vernacular
Program
Rural residential compound / retreat
Perspective
Aerial/Site
Discipline
architecture
Materials
stucco, clay-tile, timber, glass
Visual identifiers
linear-compound, courtyards, dark-pitched-roofs, white-perimeter-walls, rural-context
Style tags
contemporary-vernacular, contextual, rural-residential
Visual tags
aerial, rural, courtyard-house, vernacular-contemporary, agricultural-context
Geometry
An elongated compound divided into successive enclosed courtyards and pavilion volumes, aligned linearly along an agricultural plot next to a canal.
Facade system
White stucco exterior perimeter walls paired with dark tile gabled roofs and recessed openings.
Structural guess
Load-bearing masonry with timber or steel roof framing.
Spatial scale
Low-rise rural scale; single-to-two-story residential volumes spanning a long linear site footprint.
Lighting
Soft, hazy daylight casting long, low shadows across fields and roofs.
Atmosphere
Quiet, agrarian tranquility enveloping a structured sequence of walled domestic spaces.
Environmental context
Rural agricultural landscape of checkerboard fields, dispersed village houses, and intersecting canals.
Spatial experience
The aerial view reveals a sequence of protected outdoor and indoor rooms stepping away from the access road deeper into the agrarian landscape.
Composition rhythm
Repeating sequence of solid gabled volumes alternating with open white-walled courtyards.
Style reading
Contemporary rural vernacular
Program
Rural residential compound / retreat
Perspective
Aerial/Site
Discipline
architecture

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Directories

  • Firms
  • Patterns

AI Native Apps

  • AI Mode Search
  • SoftMarket
  • 2nd Brain

About HappyCluster

  • About
  • How it works
  • Contact

Connect

  • Waitlist
  • X
  • GitHub

Legal

  • Privacy
  • Terms

HappyCluster

© 2026

Aerial view of a long rural compound with dark pitched roofs, white walls, and internal courtyards set among agricultural fields in Shanghai by Atelier LAI.

深深深宅

上海 / 合肥

An aerial precedent for a linear rural courtyard compound that integrates contemporary vernacular massing with traditional spatial layering among agricultural fields.

What we like about this project
The exceptionally long, linear site organization creates a deep threshold sequence completely isolated from the adjacent fields by high white boundary walls.

Materials

  • stucco
  • clay-tile
  • timber
  • glass

Visual identifiers

  • linear-compound
  • courtyards
  • dark-pitched-roofs
  • white-perimeter-walls
  • rural-context

Style tags

  • contemporary-vernacular
  • contextual
  • rural-residential

Visual tags

  • aerial
  • rural
  • courtyard-house
  • vernacular-contemporary
  • agricultural-context
Geometry
An elongated compound divided into successive enclosed courtyards and pavilion volumes, aligned linearly along an agricultural plot next to a canal.
Facade system
White stucco exterior perimeter walls paired with dark tile gabled roofs and recessed openings.
Structural guess
Load-bearing masonry with timber or steel roof framing.
Spatial scale
Low-rise rural scale; single-to-two-story residential volumes spanning a long linear site footprint.
Lighting
Soft, hazy daylight casting long, low shadows across fields and roofs.
Atmosphere
Quiet, agrarian tranquility enveloping a structured sequence of walled domestic spaces.
Environmental context
Rural agricultural landscape of checkerboard fields, dispersed village houses, and intersecting canals.
Spatial experience
The aerial view reveals a sequence of protected outdoor and indoor rooms stepping away from the access road deeper into the agrarian landscape.
Composition rhythm
Repeating sequence of solid gabled volumes alternating with open white-walled courtyards.
Style reading
Contemporary rural vernacular
Program
Rural residential compound / retreat
Perspective
Aerial/Site
Discipline
architecture
Materials
stucco, clay-tile, timber, glass
Visual identifiers
linear-compound, courtyards, dark-pitched-roofs, white-perimeter-walls, rural-context
Style tags
contemporary-vernacular, contextual, rural-residential
Visual tags
aerial, rural, courtyard-house, vernacular-contemporary, agricultural-context
Geometry
An elongated compound divided into successive enclosed courtyards and pavilion volumes, aligned linearly along an agricultural plot next to a canal.
Facade system
White stucco exterior perimeter walls paired with dark tile gabled roofs and recessed openings.
Structural guess
Load-bearing masonry with timber or steel roof framing.
Spatial scale
Low-rise rural scale; single-to-two-story residential volumes spanning a long linear site footprint.
Lighting
Soft, hazy daylight casting long, low shadows across fields and roofs.
Atmosphere
Quiet, agrarian tranquility enveloping a structured sequence of walled domestic spaces.
Environmental context
Rural agricultural landscape of checkerboard fields, dispersed village houses, and intersecting canals.
Spatial experience
The aerial view reveals a sequence of protected outdoor and indoor rooms stepping away from the access road deeper into the agrarian landscape.
Composition rhythm
Repeating sequence of solid gabled volumes alternating with open white-walled courtyards.
Style reading
Contemporary rural vernacular
Program
Rural residential compound / retreat
Perspective
Aerial/Site
Discipline
architecture

Related in this portfolio