Located in the millennium-old coastal town of Wuyang, Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, this project addresses the core mission of rural revitalization by systematically showcasing the town’s historical and cultural heritage and reshaping local cultural identity. The government allocated an irregularly shaped plot north of the town center for a cultural facility integrating a historical exhibition hall, temporary galleries, meeting rooms, and a library. The site borders village boundaries to the west and north, while its eastern edge faces Wuyang First Street, the town’s main thoroughfare.

The building features a bidirectional mono-pitched roof design, with two slopes intersecting at a 16-degree angle, aligning with the east and west boundaries. Functional spaces are compactly arranged in an L-shaped layout along the village edge, freeing up the central area to connect with a natural “wind corridor” leading to the coast. These various functional units are distributed under the same eave and are organically linked through variations in ceiling height and semi-outdoor corridors. Sea breezes channeled through the eaves create a natural cooling effect, embodying the poetic concept of “admitting a gentle coolness.”

The cluster layout not only responds to climatic conditions but also dissolves the institutional scale of the building, fostering a dialogue with the surrounding vernacular houses. Connections between functional areas occur within semi-outdoor spaces beneath the overarching roof, guiding visitors through transitions between indoor and outdoor environments, as well as between daily life and historical memory. Subtle elevation changes create a three-dimensional promenade evoking the experience of “terraced sea-view”. Meandering pathways visually link clusters of self-built houses with the ruins of the South Gate, amplifying the site’s historical depth. Semi-outdoor corridors and a ground-floor plaza form a “community cultural hub”, accommodating diverse activities such as markets, tea gatherings, and exhibitions to activate daily social vitality.

The architects convey cultural memory by reconstructing spatial archetypes: the lowered eave on the main street side forms the porch image of a temple, and the gradually rising steps and lifted roof echo the spatial mood treatment of temples. The steel structure roof is designed separately from the concrete main structure, with structural components expressed, metaphorically referencing the timber framework system of ancestral halls. The entrance screen wall is embedded with 836 Ming Dynasty ancient city bricks, under which lies the old site of the ancient city walls. The architects reveal the historical strata of the site through an "archaeological exhibition" approach.

The building uses locally common materials such as red bricks, exposed aggregate concrete, tiles, and galvanized steel sheets to achieve natural integration with the surrounding environment. Economic strategies are applied throughout: the corrugated galvanized steel sheets used for the ceiling also serve as the roofing construction interface, saving on high-altitude scaffolding costs; the bluestone shingles for the roof are sourced from leftover landscape engineering materials.

These “low-tech” construction methods preserve the texture of vernacular architecture while crafting contemporary rural public spaces that balance tradition and modernity.