Conceived by Zhang Lei of AZL architects as a small village community, the Xixi Artist Clubhouse is a cluster of five similar buildings with translucent walls and branch-like arms that stretch out towards one another.

Each building is designed to house artists- and designers-in-residence and contains a mixture of studios and living quarters within a Y-shaped central plan and two Y-shaped arms.

The two-storey central structures are constructed from concrete and feature glazed end walls. Each one contains double-height studio spaces and staircases that lead up to indoor balconies.

The single-storey arms have a steel-framed structure and are clad with translucent polycarbonate panels to bring light into kitchens, bedrooms and smaller studios.

A pathway winds through the site to connect the buildings and a series of small lampposts help residents find their way around after dark.

AZL Architects more recently completed a house with walls that appear to be peeling in a forest near Nanjing, China. See more architecture in China.

Other artists' studios featured on Dezeen include a pointy gallery and studio in Japan and a set of cabin-like studios on an island off the coast of Canada. See more artists' studios on Dezeen.

Photography is by Yao Li.

Here's a little more information from AZL Architects:

Xixi Artist Clubhouse / AZL architects

Located in Xixi wetlands in west of central Hangzhou, the Xixi Artist Clubhouse is organized as a village structure with five building units, 800 m2 each as studio for artists & designers in Hangzhou. Each cluster relies on three Y-shaped volumes, one in six by six and two in three by three meters square frameless openings, creating panoramas view of surrounding wetland landscape in different directions. Contrast to cubic outside geometric volume of building, twisting fiberglass installation redefines internal spaces. Walls, floors, and ceilings are integrated in continues surface, refers to different program.

The six meter tall structure is in concrete, while two smaller sections in steel structure introduce translucent white PC panels as cladding to diffuse direct sunlight. During dark night, one could see a group of beautiful lanterns floating on the water of wild wetland horizon.

Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
Architect in Charge: Zhang Lei
Project Team: Zhang Lei, Qi wei, Zhong Guanqiu, Zhang Guangwei, Guo Donghai
Collaborator: Architectural Design Institute, ZJIU
Project Area: 4000 sqm
Project year: 2008-2011

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The two buildings were originally constructed as a garage and metal shop in New York's Greenwich Village, before the late artist converted them into a residence and workspace in the 1980s. After his death, the studio was handed over to the Lichtenstein Foundation for preservation, but the apartment remained the home of Lichtenstein's widow Dorothy.

Architects and metalworkers Caliper Studio were asked to make a number of interior and exterior changes to the jumble of buildings, including additions to the studio, the insertion of a new garden and the renovation of a penthouse office and guest apartment.

To bring natural light into the studio, the architects constructed two curved steel skylight modules, using a concrete spray technique to build up the curved body of each structure.

They then covered a total of eight rooftops with sedum grass, artificial hills and decking to create the elevated garden, creating a new home for the Lichtenstein sculptures Brushstrokes and Endless Drip. Timber pathways lead out towards an elevated viewing platform.

Above: artwork © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

For the guest apartment and penthouse, new structures were built using dark grey brickwork and timber louvres.

Above: artwork © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

We've featured a number of artists' studios on Dezeen, including four on a remote Canadian island and one beneath a railway viaduct in London. See more art and design studios.

See more recent projects in New York, including an apartment with a tubular steel slide and the new offices for social network Foursquare.

Photography is by Ty Cole.

Here's some extra information from Caliper Studio:

West Village Residence and Artist Studio

A renovation at the studio of the late artist Roy Lichtenstein includes 3,000SF planted roof and sculpture garden.

After the artist's death, a private operating foundation, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, was established in accordance with the wishes of the artist and his family. Ever since then, the Foundation uses the studio space for part of its operations.

A new sculpture garden connects the 2nd floor roof level of two existing buildings used by the late artist Roy Lichtenstein and his family. Still the West Village home of his widow, Dorothy, the new garden features two of Roy Lichtenstein's outdoor sculptures. The project also includes the renovation of a guest apartment and penthouse office with views of the garden.

The planted roof's sedum carpet partially covers two eyebrow skylights over the artist studio below. Designed to modulate light, the thin shell skylights were built using innovative fabrication technologies. Their complex geometry was realized through computer milled formwork coupled with a sprayed‐on concrete technique often used in the construction of tunnels.

Above: artwork © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

Preservation of the artist's studio was a primary design objective of the project. Careful technical detailing of the building's envelope help ensure the longevity of the studio. The quality of the space and its character has been maintained through original artifacts including the artist's built‐in wall easel system and paint‐splattered floor.

Above: artwork © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

Planted Berm Skylight

Caliper Studio designed, detailed and installed these steel and glass skylights. In addition to the steelwork, Caliper also worked closely with Riverside Builders to ensure that the sprayed concrete shell construction would meet the exacting tolerance of the skylights.

To that end, Caliper Studio provided an accurate 3D model that was used directly for CNC milling of the formwork. Automated drawing procedures developed in-house also aided the fabrication of the complex system of steel reinforcing buried in the concrete.

Architect: Caliper Studio
Structural Engineer: Gilsanz Murray Steficek
MEP Engineer: D'Antonio Consulting Engineers

Waterproofing Consultant: James Gainfort
Landcape Design: VertNY
General Contractor: Riverside Builders

Above: planted berm skylight fabrication

Above: planted berm skylight installation

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The three-storey brick and steel building dates back to the start of the twentieth century, when it was first constructed on the site of a factory in the town of Libčice nad Vltavou. The floors were only installed in the 1960s and the building had served as a warehouse since then.

Since 2006, Atelier Hoffman director Patrik Hoffman has been trying to find a way to renovate the structure. "The screw mill kept mesmerising me," he explains. "In that vacated mill once more than 1600 people used to live and work, nowadays not even a hundred have remained. And yet everything is there! Houses, railway tracks, road, technical infrastructure, river, grown up trees. It has a great genius loci. The premises are dilapidated and forsaken, but all it takes is to bring it back to life."

The architects have added a series of steel volumes that protrude from different sides of the building. At the front, an outer staircase and entrance pavilion wrap around the corner of the walls to provide access at both ground level and the uppermost floor. Another steel box creates a top floor balcony, while one on the ground floor accommodates a boiler room.

Original steel I beams and trusses are visible on each level and have been smartened up with a protective black coating. A new steel staircase with the same finishing zigzags up between the floors.

Kitchens, bathrooms and storage facilities are contained inside large wooden boxes.

Other recently completed renovations in the Czech Republic include a hair salon that looks like a cross between a warehouse and a dungeon and a gym with a running track on stilts. See more architecture in the Czech Republic.

Photography is by Andrea Thiel Lhotakova.

Here's a project description from Patrik Hoffman:

The building is situated on the premises of a former screw mill in Libčice nad Vltavou on the banks of the Vltava river, to the north of Prague. The screw mill was founded in 1872, the coal mill building originates from approximately 1900. The original two-storeyed edifice of 12.1 by 17.5 metre and height of 11 metre was split in 1965 by a steel construction in three levels. Since then it served mainly as a warehouse.

The building was bought in 2010 by LUGI Ltd and Patrik Hoffman. Renovation works were carried out between June 2010 and December 2011 following a plan and project by the architectonical studio Patrik Hoffman. In a join effort, the building of the old Coal Mine was transformed into an inspiring working environment and will continue to be used as a polyfunctional facility in which architecture, design, art, manufacture and warehousing meet each other.

When looking at the reconstructed coal mill it should be obvious what is original and what has been added. The masses of the newly added outer parts have been carried out as a system of interconnected steel boxes (entrance pavilion, staircase, balcony, boiler room), made of 4mm thick metal sheets in order to minimise the impact on the original look of the building.

We took the same approach to renovating the interiors. Added constructions were removed and the existing interior staircase was replaced by a newly placed steel staircase. The original steel construction was cleaned and given a coating.

All the facilities such as bathrooms, kitchen, cleaning closet has been hidden in independent wooden "boxes" placed freely in the space in order to accentuate the construction of the edifice with its openness and generous feel of open space.

The steel roof truss structure was left in its original shape including wooden rafters and lagging. Window openings have been fitted from the inside by new aluminium windows with insulating double glass and the original steel window frames were repaired and maintained.

It is our wish that this project may be an impulse to change a forsaken brown field in a centrum where one can find studios, manufacture, showrooms and interesting shops. May it become a place that inspires.

Author: Atelier Hoffman - Patrik Hoffman, Marcela Jirásková, Pavel Hicz, Tomáš Havlíček, Robert Bóžek
Investor: LUGI Ltd, Patrik Hoffman
Main contractor: Hefaistos s.r.o.

Realisation: 6/2010 - 3/2012
Approval: 1/2012

Above: context plan

Above: ground floor plan - click for larger image

Above: first floor plan - click for larger image

Above: second floor plan - click for larger image

Above: section AA - click for larger image

Above: section BB - click for larger image

Above: south-west elevation - click for larger image

Above: north-east elevation - click for larger image

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Bold southern light floods the studio through large sliding glass doors, opening out onto the artists' garden, whilst colder northern light diffuses through a clerestory window on the northern elevation.

This continuous linear window emphasises the boundary between land and sky, framing seasonally transforming fields against morphing clouds.

As a reference to the local agricultural vernacular, Threefold Architects chose corrugated black cellulose sheeting to clad two of the exterior walls and the roof whilst sustainably-sourced timber protects the gable ends.

The Long Studio's "simple and honest" materials and form allow light and colour from the surrounding fields and garden to animate the dark exterior and bright interior.

The simplicity of The Long Studio's construction system allowed the artists to build their studio almost entirely by themselves, so the budget could remain modest and the practically-minded artists could directly influence their creative environment.

Another benefit of using such a simple frame is the light, spacious internal volume it provides. This unexpected height contrasts with the exterior linearity of the project.

Shortlisted for AJ's Small Projects sustainability award, this self-build is operationally carbon neutral. The Long Studio achieves its zero carbon status with such features as sheep's wool insulation, a rainwater harvesting system and photovoltaic cells located on the garden-facing roof which annually feed over 1000KWh back into the National Grid.

We recently featured the winner of the AJ Small Projects Awards 2013, Laura Dewe Mathews' Gingerbread House.

Apprentice Store is another project by Threefold Architects that retains exposed wooden beams and trusses.

Photography is by Charles Hosea.

Above: axonometric diagram 

Above: short section

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Named Studio R, the three-storey building appears as a stack of concrete volumes with the studio itself occupying the entire ground floor.

Metal screens can fold up and down at both ends to offer the photographer a variety of environments. One reveals a gravel patio, while the other opens out to a plant-filled courtyard.

"The inner space of this photography studio flows into the side gardens of the building and into the urban space, establishing a spatial continuity between the square and the building," says Studio MK27.

A green formica-clad box runs down one side of the studio and conceals a dressing room, toilet and small equipment room. "In this space, there is no interference from the structure," add the architects.

Lighting in the floor highlights the bold colour of the walls and perforated openings let this light filter inside. A floating staircase is hidden behind it with a skylight directly above.

Offices and meeting areas are located on the first floor, where daylight filters in through a wooden mashrabiya screen. Another boxy volume sits in the centre of this floor, containing utility rooms and a second staircase leading up to the top floor.

A red-painted mashrabiya screen lines the edge of the second storey, which is a social room opening out to a rooftop deck. This storey is offset from the two below, creating a cantilever that projects out towards the building's entrance.

The ground floor space has a white resin floor, while wooden flooring gives warmth to the two upper storeys.

Brazilian practice Studio MK27 is led by architect Marcio Kogan. Recent projects include the concrete Casa Cubo, which has no ground-floor walls, and the timber-clad Toblerone House, which was filmed through the eyes of the client's pet cat. See more projects by Studio MK27 or see more architecture in Brazil.

Other photography studios we've featured include one lined with herringbone parquet and one constructed from glass.

Photography is by Fernando Guerra.

Here's a project description from Studio MK27:

Studio R

Facing a small urban square, the Loft Studio opens entirely to the outside. The inner space of this photography studio flows into the side gardens of the building and into the urban space, establishing a spatial continuity between the square and the building.

The façade, an aluminum gate is recessed into the concrete binding, integrating the front patio with the square; further, two large swinging metal gates – each more than 11 meters wide – permit fluidity between the gardens and the open space of the studio. Opened, these swinging gates make all visual barriers between internal and external space disappear. Closed, they allow the light in the photography studio to be controlled artificially.

In the opening of the ground floor, there is a box clad in formica-china, where we have the lavatory, dressing room and the technical area. In this space, there is no interference from the structure, which is built into the side walls of the building. Behind the green box, the stairs – lighted by a skylight – leads to the first floor, where we find the offices and the library.

A volume with metallic material organizes all the space on this floor, separating the rooms and corridors. On this floor there is a kitchen the lavatories and the stairs that lead to the top floor. The negative of this volume is the work rooms which can be opened or closed - depending on the desired privacy – through sliding panels which are built into the central box.

In the main office a fixed mashrabiya panel filters the light, while simultaneously opening a beautiful view of the large trees in the square.

On the top floor, there is a social room positioned over the front garden. This space opens with folding wooden panels, painted red, onto a deck where you can once again see the tree tops: a pleasant space for meetings on sunny days.

The material used internally displays an industrial aesthetic, appropriate for the intensive use of a photography studio that needs to constantly transform itself, depending on the situation.

The floor of the large opening is of white resin which also becomes the endless back and the wall. On the other floors, the wooden floor warms the ambient. Externally, the metal doors join the exposed concrete and the different colored wooden panels.

Project: Studio R
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Project: February 2008
Completion: September 2012
Site area: 338,15sqm
Built area: 373,00sqm

Architecture: Studio MK27
Architect: Marcio Kogan
Co-architect: Gabriel Kogan, Oswaldo Pessano
Customized furniture: Gabriel Kogan, Carolina Gastroviejo

Team: Beatriz Meyer, Diana Radomysler, Eduardo Chalabi, Eduardo Glycerio, Eduardo Gurian, Elisa Friedmann, Gabriel Kogan, Lair Reis, Luciana Antunes, Marcio Tanaka, Maria Cristina Motta, Mariana Ruzante, Mariana Simas, Renata Furlanetto, Samanta Cafardo, Suzana Glogowski
Collaborators: Fernando Falcon, Fabiana Cyon

Landscape architect: Passe_ar Verde, João Fausto Maule Filho
Structure engineer: Leão e Associados, eng. João Rubens Leão
General contractor: Lock Engenharia, eng. Marcelo Ribeiro
Air conditioning: Grau Engenharia
Installations: Grau Engenharia
Gates: S. Naldi

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