PLAT ASIA organizes community spaces around the central courtyard
The Foresky Community Center is located within Foresky residential growth in of Beijing South Fourth Ring Road, surrounded by parks and garden spaces. Designed by PLAT ASIAthe project functions as a shared neighborhood that combines a gym, childish center, restaurantcoffee shop and art store in a single spatial framework.
The design is structured around the concepts of ‘Collection’ and ‘Return’, with an emphasis on circulation, spatial sequence and collective use. Visitors enter via a spiral staircase that descends into a sunken courtyard, creating the courtyard as the central organizational element of the project. Around an oval square, the program is arranged in a circular configuration facing inwards towards the courtyard, creating visual connections between interior areas and the outdoor gathering area.
restaurant | all images from Zhu Yumeng
Box-framed volumes organize exercise, dining and play areas
Architect Jung Donghyun develops the idea of gathering through a repeating system of frame-like volumes that serves as both a formal language and an organizer of the space. These framed elements define rooms, thresholds, living areas and views, creating a series of interconnected spaces intended to support interaction between residents. The gym is organized through panels of different scales and heights that include reception, cardio, strength training, Pilates, yoga, changing rooms and shower facilities. In the center, a communal rest area is enclosed by the surrounding program, allowing the gym to function as a social environment as well as an exercise space. Ceiling heights and enclosure levels vary according to different activities and usage patterns, creating a range of more private and more public conditions.
In the children’s center, framed volumes rise directly from the floor and are scaled to a child. Units with different openings are distributed throughout the open floor plan, and windows on many sides provide visual connections and opportunities for interaction. The restaurant is organized around a central bar, with dining rooms organized around it. Variations in ceiling framing distinguish between more open communal areas and more intimate living areas. Furniture, lighting and architectural elements are integrated into the same framing system to maintain a consistent spatial language throughout the dining areas. The cafe uses a simplified material approach, with continuous veneer surfaces wrapping the framed volumes to create a clear and solid internal identity.
restaurant
metal frames, veneer surfaces and interior landscaping shapes
The Beijing Foresky Community Center project by PLAT ASIA uses lighting, material selection and circulation routes to enhance different spatial atmospheres. Higher color temperatures are used in the children’s center to create a brighter and more active environment, while lower color temperatures in the gym produce a calmer, more homely character than a typical commercial fitness center. The framed volumes are made from combinations of metal construction, fabric, hinged components and veneer. The metal frames provide openness and permeability in the gym and the restaurant, while the more closed surfaces in the children’s center and the cafe create a softer and warmer atmosphere. The stainless steel elements were chosen to match the material palette of the building’s exterior facade, establishing continuity between exterior and interior.
Landscape elements continue inside, where greenery, rubble and wood chips are incorporated into floor surfaces and traffic routes. These materials connect the interior spaces to the garden environment and reinforce the project’s emphasis on neighborhood concentration and shared outdoor experience.
restaurant
gym rest area
strength training area
pilates area
cardio training area
