Seven Houses

Qishe Courtyard lies in the heart of old Beijing, roughly fifteen meters wide and forty-two meters long, a small three-courtyard siheyuan. Because the original building contained seven pitched-roof houses and the address is No. 7 in the hutong, it is called Seven Houses. The original structure was old; aside from the timber beams and columns and some Republican-era arched doorways, most roofs, walls, doors and windows were damaged or gone. The courtyard held many temporary sheds from the shared-house period, debris and weeds. The renovation has two tasks: restore the old, sorting the courtyard houses, preserving traces of time, repairing interfaces, reinforcing structure and reviving the traditional appearance; and insert the new, adding bathrooms, kitchen, garage, infrastructure and a new covered walkway. Old and new overlay into a whole that supports future use as a reception and residence. The walkway, a basic element of traditional architecture, is the most visible addition, linking the originally separated seven houses into a connected sequence around the courtyard, with glass and wood detailing that distinguishes new insertions from historic fabric.