Chinese architecture practice Wutopia Lab has transformed a former silk weaving factory into a new theater as "the third path between history and the present" in Suzhou, China.

Named Verdant Ridges, the building is a nuanced architectural transformation located in Suzhou’s historic Taohuawu district. 

Commissioned to renovate Building No. 5 of the former Xinguang Silk Weaving Factory, the project exemplifies Wutopia Lab’s long-standing pursuit of an alternative to the conventional binaries of architectural renovation—neither complete reconstruction nor passive preservation, but a deliberate and poetic “third approach.”

South elevation view

Anchored in the life and artistic legacy of Tang Bohu, the studio treats the old factory as a metaphor for constraint and the new theater as an act of liberation and metamorphosis. 

Just as Tang Bohu’s fall from officialdom gave rise to his artistic brilliance, the building’s industrial past becomes the foundation for a renewed cultural identity. This narrative is embedded throughout the design, from spatial organization to material expression.

View overlook

Drawing on Tang Bohu’s mastery of both landscape and figure painting, Wutopia Lab introduces a striking chromatic duality. The exterior is rendered in lush greens reminiscent of classical blue-green shan shui paintings, while the interior is reduced to black, white, and gray—an intentional contrast that amplifies the visual richness of traditional Chinese opera costumes and directs attention inward, toward contemplation and emotional depth. 

Textured walls inspired by cún brushstrokes and immersive, mountain-like spatial sequences further reinforce this painterly translation into architecture.

Exterior

At the heart of the project is a custom I-shaped stage that redefines theatrical experience. By allowing actors and audiences to interweave, the architects create a temporal corridor that collapses the distance between the present day and the late Ming dynasty. 

Existing structural constraints, such as the preserved central column, are not concealed but reinterpreted, seamlessly integrated into the spatial narrative through material and color.

South elevation view at night

The architectural language continues outdoors, where layered metal façades, mesh screens, and carefully orchestrated voids form an abstract mountain landscape. These elements create moments of threshold, pause, and immersion, inviting visitors to experience the building as both architecture and theater from the moment of arrival. 

Every detail—from façade joints to rooftop profiles—reflects Wutopia Lab’s meticulous attention to material dialogue and spatial continuity.

South elevation view at night

Ultimately, Verdant Ridges stands as a clear manifestation of Wutopia Lab’s experimental ethos: respecting historical context while refusing stylistic repetition, including its own. 

Conceived as a “super intertextual” work, the theater weaves together architecture, history, symbolism, and human agency into an open-ended narrative. 

Photograph for the theater actor. Image © TAOHUAWU

As an exploration of urban renewal rooted in cultural research and artistic empathy, Wutopia Lab positions Verdant Ridges not only as a theater, but as an evolving social and architectural proposition.

Second floor terrace

First floor interior

First floor interior

Second floor corridor

Entrance

South elevation

South elevation

South elevation

Column

South elevation

Site plan

First floor plan

Second floor plan

Wutopia Lab completed a new groundbreaking project, a stunning architectural and interior design feat located at the highest point of Ancient Spring Town, in Zunhua, Hebei, China. In addition, the studio designed a residence that resembles a shimmering light amidst enchanting greenery by a lake in Shanghai. 

Project facts

Project name: Verdant Ridges 

Design firm: Wuto-mills by Wutopia Lab

Chief Architect: Yu Ting

Project Architect: Sun Liran

Design Team: Pan Dali, Xiong Jiaxing, Vi Chen (Intern)

Construction Drawing Consultant: Dazhou Design & Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

Client: Suzhou DoBe Taohuawu Cultural Tourism Industry Development Co., Ltd.

Construction Contractor: Jiangsu Jinshengshui Construction Co., Ltd.

Lighting Consultants: Chloe ZHANG, WEI Shiyu

Location: Suzhou, China

Timeline: May 2024 - December 2024

Area: 282m2

Materials: Aluminum panels, metal mesh, acoustic panels

All images © Liu Guowei unless otherwise stated.

All drawings © Wutopia Lab.

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