Hypocam House in Shanghai, China by Wutopia Lab.

Wutopia Lab have completed a renovation of Hypocam House in Shanghai, which entailed contending with complex housing management rules that stipulated the façade, structure, room functions, original materials and landscaping had to be maintained. This was no mean feat considering the now single-residence property used to be home to six families, with the architects presented with an unusual layout including four small bathrooms and six kitchens.

Wutopia Lab used the restrictions on form and space as an opportunity to hone in on the basic elements of architecture. The new house contains a courtyard, miniature private gallery, home office and residence. The architects removed all unnecessary doors to combat the previously closed and segregated multi-family space. Since the structure couldn’t be changed, colour is used to shape the revised spatial layout of the house. Inspired by the grainy texture of a black and white film, a striking monochrome palette is predominant.

“We use different textures and depths of black and white as a set of relationships as the main colour of the house,” explain the architects.

Black skirting reaches two meters up each wall, contrasting the white upper half and ceiling colour. Variants of black, white and grey in different materials and finishes include glossy black paint, white stucco ceilings, various types of black timber and refurbished white walls from the original building.

The architects removed the walls and doors around the former patio, which transformed the space into a light-filled chamber. Cobalt blue archways around a central skylight create a colourful focal point. “We used eight arched doorways with golden rims and glass walls of Klein blue, as well as the fading light to distort the scale of the site.”

Unlike their public space projects, Wutopia Lab say that this residential renovation was inspired by “memories, and finally pure life. This is also a manifestation of magical realism in architecture.”

See more projects from Wutopia Lab on Yellowtrace here.

[Images courtesy of Wutopia Lab. Photography by CreatAR Images.]