F. Forest Office by Atelier Boter is located in the fishing village of Qifong in Linbian, south of Pingtung (Taiwan).
In this area, nearly half of the population comprises retired elders who do not have access to the resources needed to stimulate an interest in their local heritage.
The young Linbian-er, the F.Forest Team have offered this community a helping hand by transforming an old space into a part-time office, a part-time community hub that aims to celebrate and serve as a window for incoming visitors to the communities way of life; with the long term goal to stimulate an interest in the local fishing village.
Situated on the street corner facing south, the office/hub is adjacent to the entire row of residential verandas; the veranda is a common gathering spot where the local community sits and chats freely. The liveliness of the fishing village often begins in the evening, just as the soft sea breeze sets in.
The interior space area of 53 square meters is designed to contain an 8 people workspace and a classroom, and a kitchen for 20 people where the team plan to organize local tours and events to attract more incoming visitors when the office is not in use.
The angled wall-mounted tabletop between the kitchen and the workspace marks the entire space division, turning the workspace and classroom into a rectangular shape that is better for space organisation and easily accommodates the host of activities that take place indoors for the community.
In order to increase the flexibility of the open space, fabric curtains were added as a soft partition to make it convenient to combine the workspace and classroom into a 30 people banquet dining space.
A serving hatch is added on the partition wall between the kitchen and the open space to increase efficiency while serving dishes for the banquet.
On weekdays when the space is used as an office, the curtains are pulled up for added privacy. On weekends when the curtains are open, the transparency of the open space attracts the neighbours. It encourages the community to spend time together indulging in their favourite activities which local tourists and visitors can see.
It was very important for the architects to open up the structure F. Forest Office and showcase to the world how public spaces can be reconfigured to serve many purposes simultaneously.
Raising the important question of…
What else could it be?
Photography: James Lin
