Prefabricated Courtyard House (Sanheyuan)

Currently, there is no direct detailed information on "prefabricated courtyard houses (Sanheyuan)", but an introduction can be made by combining the characteristics of traditional Sanheyuan courtyard houses.

I. Traditional Sanheyuan Courtyard House Form and Basic Layout Sanheyuan courtyard houses are a type of traditional rural courtyard residence in China, primarily divided into two forms: enclosed with walls and open without walls. The basic layout consists of a main house with three bays, two side wings (east and west), and a square inner courtyard enclosed by the three sides of the buildings, with a courtyard wall and gate on the south side. This layout ensures the privacy of the living space while achieving unified lighting, ventilation, and activity space through the inner courtyard.

II. Homestead Area and Typical Cases A standard livable Sanheyuan courtyard house has specific requirements for the homestead area:

• Minimum Threshold: It must be at least 280 square meters to accommodate the traditional form, daily living comfort, and lighting and ventilation needs.
• Cost-Effective Range: If conditions permit, 320-350 square meters is the ideal range for ordinary families to build their own Sanheyuan courtyard houses.
• Typical Cases:
  • Occupying an area of 22 meters × 22 meters (484 square meters), with a more spacious layout;
  • Occupying an area of 19 meters × 21 meters, with functional zoning achieved through reasonable planning.

III. Functional Layout and Material Selection

1. Functional Zoning:

   • Main House: Usually facing south, it includes a hall, living room, and granary. In some cases, the main house can be expanded to five bedrooms and two storage rooms, with the living room width exceeding 7 meters.
   • Side Wings: The east and west side wings have flexible functions. A common layout is the east side wing as a kitchen and dining area, and the west side wing as a bedroom or tea room and laundry room. There are also cases where the east side wing is set as a reception room, and the west side wing is planned as a breeding area.
   • Inner Courtyard: The open space in the middle is often used as a drying yard. In some cases, a kitchen is set up beside the courtyard gate, and breeding areas or green spaces are planned within the courtyard.

2. Material Selection:

   • Traditional Sanheyuan courtyard houses mainly use adobe, brick, stone, and wood. The street gates often adopt a wall-attached structure, reflecting regional material characteristics.

IV. Layout Flexibility The floor plan of a Sanheyuan courtyard house can be adjusted according to the owner's needs, for example:

• The kitchen can be located beside the courtyard gate or in the east side wing;
• Functional spaces such as storage rooms and breeding areas can be flexibly integrated into the courtyard;
• The size and number of main functional areas such as living rooms and bedrooms can be expanded according to family size.

If prefabricated housing technology is to be applied to Sanheyuan courtyard houses, it is necessary to combine its modular and industrial characteristics to optimize the structure and construction efficiency while retaining the traditional form. However, specific designs need to further refer to prefabricated building technical specifications.