Perched on the restless shores of Qinhuangdao, China, where sea breezes weave through festival crowds, Atelier Heimat has crafted a pavilion that captures the fleeting poetry of shared moments. Under the Same Eaves—their contribution to the 2025 Aranya Theatre Festival—transcends mere structure. Designed and built in 14 days (7 for design, 7 for construction), it serves as a baijiu tasting pavilion and a meditation on transience, community, and sustainable architecture.
As the social anchor of the festival’s radical Migratory Birds 300 initiative—a 300-hour non-stop art experiment—the pavilion embodies zero-waste design. Nestled in Sand City, it forms an intimate courtyard with three timber tasting corridors and a central service bar. Each corridor features rhythmic modular timber construction: repeating platforms under pitched eaves that invite spontaneous gatherings, baijiu in hand.
Atelier Heimat masterfully manipulates scale to shape social dynamics. Inward-facing eaves soar, fostering openness and sightlines across the courtyard. Outward-facing eaves dip low, requiring a contemplative stoop to enter—creating pockets of quiet amid the festival’s energy. Visitors recline against sloped timber backs, feet buried in sand, redefining comfort beneath the canopy. This duality frames the space as a spatial intermission: intimate yet connected.
Surrounded by theatrical installations, the pavilion hums with quiet intensity. Sea breeze and rain whisper through the polyester fabric roof; soft light filters onto faces. Here, guests sip, converse, or surrender to silence—a sensory refuge where theatrical architecture meets coastal cadence.
Construction simplicity and material reuse defined the build. Only two locally sourced timber dimensions were used: 25×105 mm planks and 35×55 mm battens. Corridors rely on a robust “sandwich” truss system—two boards enclosing a third, braced by beams—enabling rapid assembly and full disassembly and reuse.
The service unit merges pragmatism with poetry. Its storage room doubles as a roof truss support, while freestanding columns are stabilized by the bar counter. Waterproof polyester fabric stretches taut across battens along the eaves—a lightweight shield against Qinhuangdao’s elements.
True to Migratory Birds 300’s ethos, every component leaves no trace on the beach. Under the Same Eaves stands as Heimat Architects’ ode to impermanence: an immersive practice “confined by time and space.” Light in form, warm in spirit, it proves sustainable design thrives under extreme constraints—leaving only memories and reusable timber in its wake.