Cradled within the embrace of the Zhoushan Archipelago, Chaishan Island is like a pearl forgotten by time. This once-thriving fishing village saw the majestic return of hundreds of boats laden with their catch. However, with the advent of fishery conservation and the end of overfishing, the younger generation left the island in pursuit of new opportunities, rendering it an “isolated island.” The remaining 96 elderly residents have become the final watchers of this land.

△ The Scenic Charm of Chaishan Island

As the population migrates to urban areas, rural villages fall into decline, and the issue of elderly care becomes increasingly urgent. Amidst the growing trend of an aging population, rural elderly care services have become a critical governance issue. To address the medical and nursing needs of the island's elderly, Meng Fanhao, co-founder and chief architect of line+, was commissioned by the Baisha Management Committee of Zhoushan to transform an elementary school into an elderly care home. As the first public welfare project, we aspire for this nursing home to become a beacon on the island, alleviating the loneliness of the elderly and providing them with a sanctuary that combines public social spaces and medical care, allowing them to enjoy their later years in comfort.

Unlike traditional rural revitalization projects that focus on cultural tourism development, line+ takes a humanitarian approach to the elderly on Chaishan Island, helping them age in place and breathe new life into the village. By creating a shared public space and a harmonious living environment, we aim to help the elderly rediscover warm memories in tranquillity, transforming the elderly care home into a bridge that connects them with the community. This project addresses the challenge of providing foundational public elderly care services in rural areas.

△ Aerial View of Chaishan Island

Chaishan Island, part of Baisha Township in Zhoushan Putuo District, is a small island with an area of 0.88 square kilometers. The original building, located in the island's central area, is one of the few public structures. Built as an elementary school 20 years ago, it was converted into a temporary elderly care home four years ago. However, due to its basic facilities, few elderly residents were willing to stay.

△ Before the renovation

Preliminary research identified several key issues with the site. The terrain caused significant elevation differences within and around the site. Public areas were cramped and failed to meet activity needs. The elderly residents' rooms faced a public corridor to the south, exacerbating issues of insufficient lighting and dampness. These deficiencies led to low usability and made the facility unsuitable for elderly living. Therefore, the renovation needed to address not only the building's repairs but also a complete spatial reconfiguration.

△ Analysis of Current Issues

During the renovation, numerous challenges arose. Limited daily shipping routes to Chaishan Island meant building waste could not be promptly moved to landfills and had to be temporarily piled up on the island. Transporting cement, sand, and steel was also challenging. The island's narrow and old roads required over 3,000 tons of construction materials to be transported in small batches.

To address this issue, we discussed it with the client team and decided to build a ring road connecting to the pier. This would also integrate with the island's future comprehensive development plan, linking the mountaintop with various areas. All materials would first be transported to the mountaintop and then gradually distributed to designated locations.

Chaishan Island, naturally primitive and quaint, lies nestled between mountains and the sea. At the beginning of the design process, Meng Fanhao and the team engaged closely with the elderly residents to understand their needs and listen to their stories. During field investigations, they discovered that most of the elderly were fishermen who had lived off the sea. As they reminisced about their youth, those memories remained vivid. Reflecting on the past, the elderly's eyes, once dim, regained a sparkle.

△ Meng Fanhao in close communication with villager

 (Photo source: Screenshot from "Dream Home Makeover" video).

The design of the care home draws inspiration from fishing boats, featuring curved end shapes and cantilevers that create a striking appearance, making it resemble a "floating" boat on the island. This design evokes the emotions and sensory experiences of the elderly, awakening their youthful memories and using architecture as a medium to convey the story of Chaishan Island.

△ Generating Analysis

△ Model Photo

Before the renovation, the care home housed only four elderly individuals, while the rest of the island’s seniors aged in place. As the living radius of the elderly shrinks with age, they increasingly need communal public spaces to meet their daily, cultural, and social needs. The renovation aims to help the elderly establish social connections, reducing their sense of loneliness.

Given the limited land area, the entire first floor was dedicated to public spaces, including a hospice, shared dining hall, kitchen, and multipurpose hall, all open to the island's residents. The second floor is reserved for elderly living quarters.

△ Before and After Comparison of Ground Floor Renovation

Multi-level rooftop terraces, connected by a ramp from the first-floor courtyard, use flower beds and benches to separate movement lines and spaces. This design provides the elderly with ample outdoor activity and resting areas, maximizing and structuring the public space in the limited area.

Restructuring the Flow

The original care home was built on the hillside, with a 1.2-meter height difference between the east and west terraces. Raising the west side foundation alone would create a nearly two-meter height difference from the external road to the courtyard, inconvenient for the elderly. Therefore, we retained the original terraces, connecting the lower western terrace with the external road to ensure unobstructed access.

△  Courtyard Before Renovation

The original courtyard, though open, had low space utilization. To create new spatial levels, we changed the entrance position, optimizing movement lines. A corridor guides people to enter the indoor space through the central courtyard, linking the place's exterior and interior.

Boundaries between the courtyard and the multipurpose hall were opened, increasing interaction between outdoor public areas and indoor spaces while preserving the courtyard's integrity. This enhances the social aspect of the main courtyard by promoting indoor-outdoor landscape interaction.

Kitchen and Dining Hall Integration

On the eastern side of the first floor, we incorporated a nearby residential building into the overall renovation plan, connecting it to the main structure to create a spacious, bright shared dining hall and kitchen. This transformation not only provides a higher quality dining space for the elderly but also serves as a multifunctional space for activities and interactions.

△ Interior Space of the Dining Hall Before Renovation

Creating Rooftop Views

The rooftop space renovation strengthens the connection between the nursing home and the island's landscape, broadening the elderly's view. The rooftop garden includes skylights to enhance the lighting in second-floor bathrooms, maximizing sunlight penetration into the building.

Around the skylights, landscaped spaces with seating areas and vegetable gardens were created. A rooftop tearoom with expansive views was also added, enriching the functionality and activity options of the rooftop. Large windows capture the island scenery, providing the elderly with a natural and elegant space for rest and social interaction.

Expanding rooftop space increases the landscape's potential and usable area. From the rooftop perspective, the elderly could observe the island and the sea, providing comfort.

To address the issues of uneven space layout and poor functional compatibility, area division was employed to optimize the layout of medical and nursing spaces, achieving multifunctional integration in small areas.

△ Exploded Diagram

Reshaping living area

The previous second-floor living spaces suffered from poor lighting and ventilation. Before the renovation, a south-facing corridor occupied the sunny side of the building, affecting the light in the elderly’s bedrooms. Based on this, auxiliary movement lines like corridors and staircases were moved to the north side, repurposing the south-facing space for elderly bedrooms to ensure ample light, ventilation, and views.

△ Before and After Comparison of Second Floor Renovation

△ Bedroom Before Renovation

△ Axonometric Drawing of Window Casing System

The original second floor had height differences between the east and west buildings, making it difficult for the elderly to pass through. To solve this, a public space was added to separate the east and west bedroom areas with different heights, connected by an accessible ramp. A book bar was also added, providing diverse rest and interaction spaces. This book bar integrates indoor and outdoor spaces, allowing elderly residents with mobility issues to enjoy nature and the island scenery.

△ Interior Height Difference Area Before Renovation

Elderly-oriented enhancement

Safety is paramount in elderly-oriented design, focusing on creating a space with age-friendly details. The original building’s steep stairs, due to varying elevations, were unsuitable for senior residents. During the renovation, the stairwell was relocated to the center of the site, and an elevator was installed to reach the roof level, connecting all spaces and addressing the vertical movement challenges for the elderly.

Indoor and outdoor stair steps were widened and gentled, and handrails were added to accommodate the elderly’s pace. Accessible pathways now connect the entire space, enhancing site accessibility. Intermittent seating along long corridors provides rest spots for those with mobility difficulties.

△ Interior Space Before Renovation

In the bedrooms, enriched elder-friendly details, are updated with professional nursing beds and emergency equipment for convenience. Furthermore, treated furniture edges to reduce sharp corners.

The original bathrooms were small and did not meet the 1.5-meter wheelchair turning radius requirement for accessible design. The layout was redesigned to improve compliance with accessibility standards, eliminate height differences between bedrooms and bathrooms, and replace smooth tiles with non-slip terrazzo, enhancing safety.

△ Bathroom Before Renovation

Respecting the island's memory and village texture, local elements were used as the basis for color and material application to seamlessly integrate the building with its environment.

△ Facade of Residential Houses on Chaishan Island

The use of red and blue originated from fishermen who painted their boats and then used the leftover paint on their home doors and windows, creating unique facade imprints. These colors were applied to the exterior facades and interior windowsills of the second-floor bedrooms, as well as on painted wood panels in movement spaces and outdoor ramps. These distinct colors help the elderly navigate and distinguish different areas within the site.

The main building material is washed stone paint, which gives the surface a rich texture with its unique graininess, significantly enhancing the building's aesthetics. The entrance wall features locally common rubble stone, while the corridor uses steel columns, creating a contrast between light and heavy materials and enriching the care home's material layers to echo the local architectural atmosphere.

△ Wall Section

Additionally, old houses often used fishing nets as barriers for entrances or fences. This element was incorporated into the design, with fishing net-like materials used for the corridor and rooftop lookout tower safety nets, giving these materials new expressive power.

The elderly residents of Chaishan Island have always lived by the sea, born and raised by its shores, reflecting their simplest wishes. Understanding this deep-seated need, line+ took on the public welfare project of revitalizing the elderly care home, focusing on rural activation and revitalization. The aim is to draw more attention to the living conditions of these vulnerable groups, creating a space that meets elderly care needs while preserving local characteristics, and offering warmth and care to the elderly residents left behind.

This project is not only an exploration and practice in rural renovation design but also a heartfelt touch and transmission. We mobilized elite teams from various design industries to contribute to the future of Chaishan Island. Heartfelt thanks go to all the teams and sponsoring brands involved in this project. Your efforts have made the dream of a floating boat on Chaishan Island a more perfect reality, ensuring that this isolated island is no longer lonely.

Project Model Photo

Drawings

△ Site Plan

△ Ground Floor Plan

△ Second Floor Plan

△ Third Floor Plan

△ Fourth Floor Plan

△ Section