NEWS:

Garbers & James (GJ) are delighted to announce that their L J Villa project in Beijing has been awarded the architectural Master Prize 2018.

The project was commissioned by owner Jiang Yiyan with whom GJ worked with collaboratively, as Client.

The project takes reference and was inspired by Jiang Yiyan’s extensive travel and work experience in Africa.

It was particularly fascinating working together with Jiang Yiyan and her eclectic Object Collections that were co-curated and fully integrated within the interior and landscape schemes in particular.

Core Design Team members, Yiyan Jiang, Client and Thore Garbers, partner, GJ, are seen here attending the Awards dinner last Tuesday in the stunning surrounds of the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao.

The wider Design Team included Alice Guo (contact architect Beijing)

We have been both privileged and delighted to have been able to discover the pride, care and vision of the Client and craftsmen involved in the making of our private house project in Beijing.

Despite distance and the need to communicate through translators, the confirmation that traditional craftsmanship transcends international boundaries was heartening to witness.

Architect’s drawings are universal and with a skilled workforce recognising that Garbers & James’s designs follow and respect discrete material technologies and constructional techniques, it was a pleasure to be actively engaged with the Client and team from concept to fruition.

This scheme, on a constrained city site, opens up spatially through changing levels and calmly integrates culture with nature. The animals and plants were there from the outset in the Client’s mind, or so ours…..

Materials are generic; pure, simple and beautiful timbers, stones, glass and so on.

Our work extended from the overall structure and spacial construction, to detailing all fittings and furniture, as well as the selection of loose furniture.

Our very best wishes extend to our Client for the fair sailing of their home now for the future.