架构师提供的文本描述。位于中国历史名城苏州的核心地带，占地约2500平方米，曾是北家的居所。中国传统园林由四座古木结构建筑组成，四合院建于清代，距今已有一百多年的历史，其余四座建筑建于九十年代的混凝土结构中。改造工程的目的是把这座历史建筑改造成一套现代化的公寓。

Text description provided by the architects. Located in the core of the historic town of Suzhou, China, the site covers about 2,500 sqm, once was the residence of family Bei. The traditional Chinese garden consists of four ancient wooden structure architectures with courtyards built in the Qing Dynasty, dating back over a hundred year of history, and other four buildings built in the 90s of concrete structure. The renovation project aims to transform the historical house into a modern apartment.

 © Eiichi Kano

c.Kano英一

 © Eiichi Kano

c.Kano英一

为了对四栋老房子进行改造，所有的原始木结构都保留了简单的加固和修复。由于缺乏维护，建筑状况已不适应现代生活方式，主要是解决空调、暖气系统、淋浴房等满足现代生活需要的功能。将原有木结构中的红色漆移除，采用传统的漆器工艺改为黑色漆，加上门窗的天然木框，体现了古建筑的美和典雅。材料的天然纹理，如石头，胡桃木用于室内空间，设置一个简单和自然的色调。

For the renovation of the four old houses, all the original wooden structure is preserved with simple reinforcement and restoration. Since the lack of maintenance, the building status no longer suits modern lifestyles, the main focus is to resolve functions that can meet the needs of modern daily life, such as air conditioning, heating system, shower room etc. The red paint from the original wood structure is removed and changes to black paint using the traditional lacquer process, together with natural wood frame of the windows and doors, reflect the beauty and elegance of the old architecture. Materials with natural textures such as stones, walnut wood are used for the interior space, setting a simple and natural tone.

 Axonometric

对于混凝土结构建筑的改造，设计采用了纯正、简约的语言，营造了一种更轻松、更现代的氛围。与老房子相比，采用橡木、浅灰色水磨石地板等颜色较轻的材料，大胆地将现代设计引入历史园林，新旧并置，体现了传统与现代生活方式之间有趣的对话。

For the renovation of the concrete structure buildings, the design goes for a more relaxed and modern atmosphere using pure and minimalist language. Comparing to the old houses, materials with lighter color are used such as oak wood and light grey terrazzo floor. By boldly introducing the modern design into the historic garden, the juxtaposition of old and new shows an interesting dialogue between the tradition and the modern lifestyle. 

 © Eiichi Kano

c.Kano英一

该设计的主题是继承历史建筑的精神，不仅仅是通过保存和恢复它的外观，更重要的是通过重新创造它的空间体验。即使房子要改造成一套现代化的公寓，我们也不想把它分成几个孤立的房间，事实上，一半以上的空间被用作公共空间，如共用厨房、共用自习室、艺术厨房、公共酒吧和水疗中心(spa…)。除了私人房间外，客人还会有整个花园作为他们家的延伸，在那里他们可以与其他人交流。家庭的定义在概念和空间上都得到了扩展。

The main theme of the design is to inherit the spirit of the historic house not just by preserving and restoring its appearance but most importantly by recreating its spatial experience. Even though the house is to be transformed into a modern apartment, we do not want it to be separated into several isolated rooms, in fact, more than half of the space is used as public space, such as shared kitchen, shared study room, art galley, public bars and spa… Apart from the private room, the guests will also have the whole garden as the extensions of their home where they can communicate with the others. The definition of home have been expanded both in terms of concept and space.

 © Eiichi Kano

c.Kano英一

 © Eiichi Kano

c.Kano英一

 © Eiichi Kano

c.Kano英一

庭院的改造是设计的另一个重点。对于原规划中没有庭院的房间，我们还设置了作为花园或露台的空间，庭院与室内的开放关系分散了室内外空间的界限，同时实现了由公共向私人的过渡。

The renovation of courtyard is another focus of the design. For the rooms had no courtyard in the original plan, we also set a space used as a garden or terrace, the open relationship between the courtyard and the interior diffusing the boundary between the indoor and outdoor space and at the same time achieved the transition from public to private.

入口处庭院的设计也借鉴了古典园林的灵感，古典园林试图以微型的方式再现自然景观，我们把原来的停车场改造成一个现代水景庭院，中间有一个沉陷的座位区，让人们更接近自然，创造出独特的景观和体验。

The design of the courtyard at the entrance also takes inspiration from the classical garden which seeks to recreate natural landscapes in miniature, we transformed the original parking lot into a modern waterscape courtyard with a sunken seating area in the middle of the water, bringing people closer to the nature and creating a unique view and experience.

 © Eiichi Kano

c.Kano英一

 © Eiichi Kano

c.Kano英一

房屋改造工程是对历史街区城市更新的一次尝试和探索，通过在旧建筑中引入新的、高质量的生活方式，为历史名城在现代环境下的复兴提供了契机。

The house renovation project is an experiment and exploration of urban regeneration of historic area, by introducing new and high-quality lifestyle into the old architectures, offers an opportunity for the historic town to revive under the modern context.

 © Eiichi Kano

c.Kano英一