Chetian’s stone houses descend in terraces along hillsides and the river. Rectangular rooms join into bands; these turn to enclose open spaces and interlock at their ends, forming a settlement in which repetition accommodates difference. The visitor centre takes this process of growth—from unit to band to group—as a way to organise an irregular site.

White Courtyard, Stone Lane and Stone Hall progress from the forecourt at the road junction towards the hillside. Each develops through an L-shaped turn, and their parallel arrangement and interlocking southern ends form a whole. Walls enclose the entrance court; the lane stretches and bends to continue the scale of village passages; the hall accommodates reception, exhibitions, tea and offices. A common rule of turning runs through all three, while scale, openness and construction vary, preserving differences within a continuous building.

Entering reverses the process by which small units accumulate into the village. The forecourt contracts into the white court, the court compresses into a stone lane, and passage through a gap opens into a dense assembly of interior units. The horizontally extended exterior gradually breaks down into vertical elements, intervals and light encountered at the scale of the body. Red, yellow-green and natural light penetrating deep inside lend the route the familiar depth of Chetian’s stone interiors. Local experience becomes apparent through the act of entering.

Each band uses construction suited to its purpose: rendered brick for the white court, local stone masonry and dry pointing for the lane, and a frame with infill walls and local stone cladding for the main hall. Site organisation, the inherited wall form and contemporary building methods work together, allowing vernacular experience to develop within new visitor and exhibition uses.