A groundbreaking architectural project has successfully transformed the entrance area of the Tangshan Ape-man Cave Scenic Area in Nanjing, China, creating a multifunctional space that serves both tourists and local residents. The 2,382-square-meter facility, designed by AESEU Architectural Technology and Art Studio and completed in 2022, represents a new model for adaptive renewal projects at the urban-rural junction.

The Tangshan Ancient Ape-man Cave Scenic Area, located in a valley east of Nanjing city, has long been celebrated for the discovery of ancient ape-man relics and serves as a renowned tourist destination. However, the area faced significant challenges due to its location at the rural-urban fringe, where it historically functioned as a vital transportation corridor with an east-west road traversing the valley. The confined space between the mountain and road, combined with existing drainage infrastructure, created mutual constraints for the scenic area, parking facilities, and community public spaces, leading to persistent problems including traffic congestion, lack of distinctive features, and insufficient service amenities.

In 2017, the Management Committee of the Tangshan Cultural Tourism Zone undertook a comprehensive renovation of the entrance area. The redesigned main square now opens directly onto the road, featuring streamlined spatial design that follows the natural mountain contours, proving highly popular among both tourists and local residents. This rare public open space has evolved into a daily gathering spot for surrounding community members, demonstrating the project's dual function as both a tourist facility and community asset.

The architectural solution strategically repositioned bus and social parking lots to the west side of the main square, each with independent entrance and exit points. Dedicated pedestrian pathways run alongside water channels, guiding visitors smoothly to the main square while effectively separating pedestrian and vehicular traffic to alleviate congestion in the narrow entrance area. To the east, a smaller entrance square connects to the scenic spot's main gate and provides access to a non-motorized children's playground.

Two key tourist service facilities were updated in the entrance area, both constructed on foundations of original buildings. The first is a tourist service point with public restrooms, rebuilt on the former ticket office site near the parking lot. The second is a supporting service building for the scenic spot, constructed where the former bus station office building once stood. These facilities demonstrate innovative use of existing infrastructure while meeting modern functional requirements.

The renovation extends beyond tourism infrastructure to enhance community functionality in the narrow valley. The aesthetically designed public square has become a preferred gathering place for local residents, while the passive children's playground is transforming into a popular recreational destination. A distinctive restaurant meets dining needs for both tour groups and local residents, creating a functional layout that blends public welfare with commercial interests designed to offset maintenance and management costs through commercial revenues.

Buildings in the project serve as boundaries for land use division, moving beyond simple gates and fences typically used in enclosed, ticketed scenic areas. Given the narrow geographical conditions and multifaceted functional requirements, the design imbues spatial boundaries with greater significance and versatility. The original bus station office building, a two-story elongated brick-and-concrete structure built alongside a drainage channel, was reconfigured into a similarly linear building using existing foundations.

The design addresses water management by converting the previously open drainage channel into an underground box culvert while creating a surface landscape pond to collect runoff. The newly constructed two-story building with a high-pitched roof functions as a community restaurant, featuring a dining hall and private rooms on the first floor and a banquet hall on the second floor capable of hosting events.

A fan-shaped area south of the original office building was developed into an under-forest, non-motorized children's playground. The space requires enclosed management due to independent operation, leading to the design of a continuous Z-shaped strip building for spatial demarcation. Internally, a children's restaurant physically encloses the playground, while externally it works with the community restaurant to define a small entrance square facilitating visitor gathering and dispersal.

The architectural approach emphasizes harmony with the natural environment rather than competing with the main attraction. Since the Ape-man Cave represents the pinnacle of the scenic route, the foreground buildings adopt a "reclining" posture at the mountain's foot, avoiding resemblance to cave forms or antiquated architectural styles. Through continuous grey spaces created by eaves galleries, the building assumes a "guide" role, welcoming and humbly ushering visitors into the historical site.

Material selection reflects local characteristics, with Tangshan's limestone geology, bamboo-and-wood-covered mountains, and 500,000-year-old archaeological significance informing the use of natural materials including earth, stone, bamboo, and wood. These materials, processed by human hands, become robust, enduring, and workable—potentially reflecting prehistoric humans' tool use in caves.

Rammed earth walls play a pivotal architectural role, enhanced by modern materials like steel and cement for improved crack resistance and waterproofing. The longitudinal and transverse wall interplay creates physical space division while functioning as a central axis around which other spaces develop. Engineered bamboo, an industrialized glued biomass material, gains prefabricated features through steel connection plates, with the frame structure designed independently of rammed earth walls for flexible internal space division.

The lightweight steel structure embodies prefabrication features, with the elongated community restaurant constructed using a steel frame system. The roof gradually ascends from the first-floor porch to the second-floor banquet hall, creating a double-eaved facade facing pedestrian movement. Roof trusses utilize stressed ribbon structure to minimize steel beam cross-sectional dimensions, while waterfront dining booths are arranged beneath long horizontal eaves along the pond side.

Architectural details engage in dialogue with the natural environment through meticulous local features. Low walls of rubble masonry at the community restaurant entrance delineate platforms sloping toward water, creating relaxed outdoor dining areas. In narrow courtyards, water spouts extend from concrete caps atop rammed-earth walls, while continuous internal gutters project from sloping roofs, creating rich Chinese cultural symbolism and picturesque restaurant backdrops.

The project represents a holistic approach to scenic area development that recognizes community assets within tourist spaces. Mountains, waters, and forests foster local residents' lifestyles and traditions, rendering them shared community assets. By incorporating versatility and inclusivity in boundary delineation, the project addresses community functional deficiencies while mitigating alienation caused by rigid separation, creating spaces that facilitate seamless integration of architecture as a vibrant entity into both community and nature.