Renovation of Yongqing Neighborhood, Enning Road,Guangzhou

Project description

Building Area: 7000sqm
Design Period: 2015.08—2016.10
Category: Experimental

Urban Design

Enning road is where the memory of old Guangzhou resides. The reconstruction of Enning road has been the concern of Guangzhou people. It is no longer a purely architectural issue of beauty and ugliness, but a sociological issue of emotions. We try to start from Enning’s history, bring the memory back which belongs to Enning people; try to solve the problem of sociology through architectural thinking.

The most prosperous period of Enning road is during the Republic of China. The value of design is “consult local conditions, follow the current situations, and reinvent the classic”. Through a large number of academic studies and field research work, we extract classic architectural elements from the Republic period and reactivate them, on the basis of protecting the current conditions to the largest extent possible.

Achitecture Design

YUN: The building itself, built in the late Qing Dynasty, is the oldest architecture in the district. It is the main entrance of all office, reception and conference space. As the roof is collapsed seriously, while the wall is much better preserved, we chose to reserve the walls completely, to clean up and restore the texture of old brick walls. We insert new steel structure system and build a new roof system, forming a public space which old and new are at the same time separated and fused.

SHU: It is a teaching space for children to cultivate their hobbies in this district. The building consists of three red brick house, two of them are relatively integrated. So we decide to make a functional reconstruction. As the space of the other one was low and dark, we try to insert new steel structures, to form a bright and open reception space, and convert cleverly between the old and the new through vertical external stairs.

SHE: It is the only open outdoor activity space in this district. The three old red brick buildings on site were demolished before design. Therefore, SHE is a brand new architectural design. We pay full respect to original architectural texture, retaining the diversity of the original building. We try to combine three small individual glass boxes, weaken the sense of dimension for new construction, and at the same time make use of the building’s original old red brick, so as to restore memory of the old place. We try our best to retain space for outdoor activities, design big steps for abundant public activities, make connection and transformation between indoor and outdoor space by the steps.