timber roof crowns a workshop reviving rural craft traditions in china

primary architects reconnects woodworking with village life

In Haotang Village in China’s Henan province, ‪Primary Architects‬ completes Carpenter’s Home, a timber workshop and community learning space rooted in the revival of local craft traditions. Conceived as part of the village’s ‘Eight Traditional Crafts Revival Program,’ the 405-square-meter project reactivates woodworking as a living profession and a shared cultural practice. The building is positioned at the entrance of the rural settlement, replacing an aging woodworking shed once used by local carpenter Zhang. The architects imagine the project as an active place of labor and exchange. Traditional woodworking, school workshops, tea gatherings, and everyday routines unfold simultaneously beneath a sweeping timber roof.

all images by DONG Image

a roofline that extends the surrounding mountain terrain

The team at Primary Architects approaches the roof as an extension of the mountain, allowing the architecture to emerge from the topography. Twelve curved glued-laminated timber beams descend gradually from east to west, generating a continuous spatial rhythm that follows the slope of the site, mediating the elevation difference between the village road and the neighboring health clinic. The undulating roofline echoes the surrounding hills and establishes what the architects describe as a dialogue of ‘disconnected form yet connected spirit’ with the distant mountains.

Curved skylights cut through the timber shell like narrow slits of light within a valley, letting daylight inside. Optimized through sunlight simulations, the skylights allow the workshop to operate primarily through natural lighting during daytime hours. Filtered light spreads evenly across the surfaces, creating a warm atmosphere suited to focused craftsmanship.

Carpenter’s Home emerges between the forested hillside and the rural fabric of Haotang Village

digitally fabricated timber spans define the workshop interior

Glued timber members with steel connection nodes compose the project, in a hybrid system capable of spanning up to 26 meters without interrupting the interior with excessive supports. The double-curved roof geometry was digitally modeled and parametrically controlled before being prefabricated off-site and assembled through a modular construction process.

The open-plan layout of the space accommodates research workshops and educational activities for up to two school classes at once. Flexible woodworking tables support traditional mortise-and-tenon teaching and contemporary timber experiments. Along the walls, displays of hand planes, ink markers, and timber sections place vernacular woodworking tools alongside engineered wood technologies, highlighting the continuity between historical craftsmanship and contemporary construction methods.

the sculptural roofline rises from the bamboo forest like an extension of the hillside

a vessel for labor, memory, and collective learning in china

The return of carpenter Zhang to his workshop sits at the heart of the project. The sounds of planing wood, measuring timber, and marking ink lines once again animate the space, while children gather around the worktables to learn joinery techniques and understand material processes through direct experience.

The ground floor preserves a dedicated area for traditional woodworking production while opening another section toward villagers and visitors through exhibitions, workshops, and educational programs. Upstairs, a tea room adopts the function of a public gathering space and transforms into a waiting lounge for parents during school activities. Rather than separating work from domestic life, the project deliberately overlaps labor, teaching, hospitality, and community interaction under one roof.

For Primary Architects, Carpenter’s Home proposes an alternative model for rural revitalization. Instead of relying on nostalgic preservation alone, the project introduces a forward-looking architectural language in a project that aims to reconnect craftsmanship and contemporary rural living.

stepped public seating traces the flowing geometry of the workshop’s laminated timber roof