Keywords

1 Rural Revitalization is Closely Related to the Development of Prefabricated Buildings

1.1 The Country Vigorously Develops Rural Revitalization

In 2021, the State Council issued the “Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Comprehensively Promoting Rural Revitalization and Accelerating Agricultural and Rural Modernization”, emphasizing that vigorously developing prefabricated buildings such as steel structures and concrete has the green and environmental characteristics of energy conservation, reducing construction pollution, achieving energy conservation and emission reduction in the construction industry, and sustainable development (Chart 1).

Chart 1.
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Analysis of Heavy Steel Structure Rural Villa System. Source: Summarize and self-drawing based on relevant information

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1.2 Pain Points and Difficulties in Rural Revitalization

The overall requirements for rural revitalization are reflected in industrial prosperity, ecological livability, rural civilization, effective governance, and a prosperous life.

However, exploring effective forms of implementation such as the separation of ownership, qualification rights, and use rights of homesteads, the construction of new rural houses is becoming increasingly prominent:

  1. a.

    Lack of professional participation, unreasonable scheme selection, and lack of overall spatial layout planning;

  2. b.

    The residential functions are chaotic and mixed, with poor privacy;

  3. c.

    The energy-saving and seismic performance of residential buildings are poor, and the living comfort is poor;

  4. d.

    The cost of building construction is high, the construction period is long, the environmental impact is significant, and the waste of resources during the construction process is severe;

  5. e.

    The technical quality of construction personnel is low, and the quality cannot be guaranteed;

  6. f.

    Lack of employment opportunities, young and middle-aged people going out to work, and a serious shortage of construction personnel;

  7. g.

    Non-standard self-built houses, so the construction funds are not supported by financial institutions.

1.3 Prospects and Realistic Issues of the Application of Prefabricated Buildings in Rural Revitalization

The new requirement of the 14th Five Year Plan for the high-quality development of the construction industry is to use prefabricated buildings as the carrier, synergistically promote intelligent construction and industrialization of new buildings, and comprehensively promote rural revitalization construction. In the next five years, the investment scale for rural revitalization in China will exceed 7 trillion yuan [1], and Prefabricated buildings have a huge market demand for rural revitalization.

2 How Prefabricated Residential Buildings are Reflected in Their Locality

2.1 “Locality”

“Locality” mainly refers to the close connection and interaction between buildings and sites, society, and people's lives; All human activities occur in specific environmental and social soils; And it occurs in the specific relationship between “people” and “places” [2].

2.2 Architectural Form

The design of prefabricated residential buildings in the local area fully reflects its local characteristics by extracting recognizable forms of rural buildings, such as the through bucket and dry railing structures in the Bayu area, and the space under the eaves of sloping roofs [3]; Through the design and utilization of courtyard spaces, we aim to enhance the integration of traditional architectural cultural exchange spaces with the functional needs of clothing and grain drying, reflecting the characteristics of adapting to local life; At the same time, by selecting appropriate colors and materials based on local conditions for wood and stone, and matching with the local plant atmosphere, we create a sense of belonging and place spirit in the presence. By combining different forms of residential building types with different building standard modules to meet people's needs [4].

2.3 Functional Utilization

Prefabricated residential buildings in the local area can serve the daily life of villagers (agriculture, daily life) and attract urban people to return to the countryside, creating a hidden urbanization function. Production and life are full of rural sentiments, while infrastructure is modern and more reasonable.

2.4 Humanistic and Emotional Aspects

Paul Oliver scientifically supplemented the concept of vernacular architecture in his “World Encyclopedia of Terrestrial Architecture”, proposing to comprehensively study vernacular architecture from multiple perspectives and levels [5]. Through mutual cooperation between craftsmen and designers in rural areas, they jointly participate in the design and construction process, reflecting the geographical, human nature, and attribution of prefabricated residential buildings; There is no need for overly refined, industrialized, and designed construction, breaking away from the overly idealistic and artistic complex, in order to avoid breaking away from the original rural lifestyle and carrying the real life of the vast number of villagers through prefabricated residential buildings.

3 Design Features of Local Prefabricated Residential Buildings

Rural prefabricated residential buildings need to be designed based on the expression of locality, in order to fully express cultural elements, from the following four aspects [6]:

3.1 Standardized Design of Unit Types

The unit area of rural prefabricated residential buildings ranges from 80 to 200 square meters. Guided by the concept of “fewer specifications, more combinations” [7] and referring to the requirements of building materials and structural specifications, the modular induction of the opening and depth dimensions of different functional units of the suite is carried out using “600 mm” as the basic module. According to the “basic room” [8] stereotypes combination method, the standardized units are subdivided into functional spaces such as kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, and living rooms, to set reasonable size parameter combination range under unified modulus coordination, simplify the types of components and fittings, and make the house type meet the requirements of standardization and diversification. (Fig. 4).

3.2 Standardized Design of Components

In order to reflect the local characteristics and standardized construction of prefabricated steel structure residential buildings, based on the traditional steel structure system, the standardized design concept is applied to highly integrate the four major systems of prefabricated buildings (building structure system, peripheral protection system, equipment and pipeline system, interior decoration system) by generalizing the components, and adding full decoration to build a new form of prefabricated steel structure building system suitable for the Bayu region.

The main standard components include: the main structure adopts a box shaped steel column, H-shaped steel beam structural system, prefabricated steel stairs, integrated floor panels, roof trusses, integrated roofs, and maintenance structural systems. (Fig. 1).

Based on the standardization of fine decoration style, research and development are carried out to integrate prefabricated technology and standardization, and the unified design of the heaven and earth wall, overall bathroom, and overall kitchen is carried out. (Table 1).

Fig. 1.
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Standardized Design of Components in Prefabricated Residential Buildings. Figure source: Self-drawing

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Table 1. Standardized design of interior decoration modules for local prefabricated residential buildings
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3.3 Standardized Design of Materials and Structures

The prefabricated construction of heavy steel in rural villas embodies assembly and modularization, and the concept of “Combination of old and new” is applied to building materials [9]. Most of them use traditional materials from the local area. Steel structures with H-shaped steel and rectangular steel profiles are used as load-bearing frameworks, and modular insulation and energy-saving composite panels are used as enclosure structures. The heavy steel structural framework is supplemented by insulation and energy-saving composite panels, exterior wall materials, and polymer asphalt tiles, and its architectural performance is derived from the portal steel frame [1]. (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2.
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Material and Structure Display of Prefabricated Residential Buildings in Place. Figure source: Self-drawing

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3.4 Construction Assembly

The assembly process of prefabricated residential construction includes foundation construction, embedded parts installation, main steel structure installation, wall installation, roof construction, exterior wall decoration, indoor installation foundation construction, embedded parts installation, main steel structure installation, wall installation, roof construction, exterior wall decoration, indoor decoration, and overall delivery, which is very convenient.

4 Design Strategy for Local Prefabricated Residential Buildings

4.1 Sustainable Design Based on the Entire Lifecycle

The traditional residential space is rigid, making it difficult for residents to change the layout of the residential space according to their own needs and preferences. The “variable residence” uses assembly technology to create a design that can be divided and combined, and can achieve multiple combinations. It adapts to different family structures and the different demands of the same family at different stages of life for the residence in a flexible and variable combination.

The two-bedroom layout that adapts to the world of young couples can be transformed into a four-bedroom apartment that fully meets the living needs of three generations living together. The research on household types based on the theory of growth and sustainable development is as follows. (Table 2, Figs. 3 and 4, Chart 2).

Table 2. Functional Design of Sustainable Prefabricated Residential Buildings throughout their Life Cycle
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Fig. 3.
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Evolution of Local Prefabricated Residential Units throughout their Life Cycle. Figure source: Self-drawing

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Fig. 4.
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Functional Evolution of Local Prefabricated Residential Houses throughout their Life Cycle. Figure source: Self-drawing

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Chart 2.
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Economic and technical indicators of prefabricated residential buildings with different life cycles. Source: Self-drawing

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4.2 Prefabricated Traditional Architectural Style Based on Locality

Preserving the unique rural style is the main theme of rural construction. The integration and reconstruction of rural culture and modern life concepts, and the role of rural architecture tends to be a regional and community cultural memory place, innovative architectural construction methods and intangible forms (emotions, culture, and spirit) conveyed in space are indispensable.

Establishing traditional courtyard space forms, sloping roof building facades, and standardized design of local building materials (bamboo, wood, rammed earth, stone, bricks, etc.) in prefabricated residential buildings, in line with local traditional architectural forms; Set up prefabricated cultural squares, gathering places, auditoriums, etc. in the public space of the village. (Figs. 5 and 6).

Fig. 5.
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Architectural Style of Prefabricated Residential Villages in Local Areas. Figure source: Self-drawing

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Fig. 6.
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Architectural Style of Prefabricated Residential Buildings. Figure source: Self-drawing

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4.3 Respect the Historical Context and Place Spirit of Rural Architecture

In the mountainous areas, buildings usually use the height difference relationship of the site to adopt a “land loving” architectural form, which visualizes the natural structure and expresses the ownership of the land and the “freedom” in space.

Use simple and pure forms to respond to the original pure atmosphere of the site, such as “Stilted building” and “Bench type building”, to achieve organic symbiosis with the site.

At the same time, by combining “new” functions with “old” sites, excessive development is avoided. In response to the national homestead policy, each house can only be limited to the existing outline of the homestead, while retaining the original village texture, breakthroughs are made in internal functions to meet the “new” housing needs.

5 Summary and Outlook

The assistance of prefabricated residential buildings in rural construction is an important part of rural revitalization, and it is necessary to cultivate talents in prefabricated building construction, rural renovation, and rural landscape, so that more workers can master their own skills. By building a rural revitalization college, collaborating with universities, and inviting rural revitalization experts, scholars, and frontline practitioners to hold various trainings for the whole province and even the whole country, we aim to provide talent. Introduce cultural and tourism projects to cultivate a group of new era farmers who understand management and management.

At the same time, combined with the integration of BIM technology, green buildings, and ultra-low energy consumption technology, systematic processes such as internet digital display, demand collection, customized design, factory production, visual construction, delivery and use, and post maintenance are utilized to achieve C to F (personal to factory) building transactions.

Integrate online and offline, create a one-stop comprehensive service platform for rural housing construction in China, and optimize prefabricated buildings to assist in rural revitalization.

Ultimately, we will achieve a rural revitalization operation model that integrates rural industries, rural tourism, rural architecture, and rural construction as a whole. Promote the process of rural revitalization in China.