Stellar Isle by SpActrum

Stellar Isle, covering approximately 1,200 square metres, stands as the most significant new cultural and leisure building in Shaoxing Chaichanglong. After a five-year renovation, historical buildings from various eras have been preserved, and new buildings and skywalks have been constructed, transforming it into a historical block featuring structures from different periods. Among these, Stellar Isle is the most crucial and distinctive presence of the new constructions. Stellar Isle is located at the southern end of the central axis of the Chaichanglong plot.

The original site's northern part featured a veranda-style dormitory building from the 1970s and 1980s, with four floors and typical brick and concrete construction. The verandas and roof terraces on each floor create a dynamic landscape that changes with height. The porch opens to the east, enclosed by a mottled wall around the courtyard. An adjacent classical building's gable, in a state of disrepair, leans at an angle on one side of the second floor. From atop the hill, one can see the outline of the old house's roof and blossoming flowers. On the fourth floor, the surrounding buildings' damaged roof tiles are visible. The rooftop offers a panoramic view of the crumbling tiles.

The building was severely damaged and beyond restoration; after demolition, the site and the land to its south became the location for Stellar Isle. Conceptually, the designer envisioned it as a superposition of cascading surfaces, termed "Stacking Grounds," where fragmented planes form overlapping and continuous paths and platforms.
These surfaces spiral upwards around the building's southern side, creating spaces reminiscent of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and Wright's Guggenheim Museum. They serve not only as passageways but also as multi-storey grandstands where people can gather around the open space on the ground floor. Source by SpActrum.

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