The complex look at the past. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal

09/08/2021. [Wuhan - Hubei province] China
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA

The area is located north of Wuhan, near the Yangtze river, in a large residential area and is included in a program for the revitalizing industrial heritage. The building target of the project, renovated by Office for Urban Renewal, was the initial elementary school designated as number 3, located in the central axis of a dormitory housing complex of the Wuhan Iron And Steel Corporation (WISCO), built 70 years ago , in a style that the architects call "Russian".

WISCO was an important steel industry in the city of Wuhan, which built many architectural and engineering works (such as the Wuhan Red Bridge), whose footprint is part of the historical memory of its inhabitants.

Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal. Photograph by LIU Anqi

Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal. Photograph by LIU Anqi

Previous site. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal. Photograph by LIU Anqi

Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal. Photograph by LIU Anqi

Spiral staircase. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal. Photograph by LIU Anqi

Exhibition hall. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal. Photograph by LIU Anqi

Interior. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal. Photograph by LIU Anqi

Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal. Photograph by LIU Anqi

Interior. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal. Photograph by LIU Anqi

Night overview. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal. Photograph by LIU Anqi

Site sketch. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Site plan. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Ground floor plan. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

First floor plan. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Second floor plan. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Third floor plan. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

East elevation. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

North elevation. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

South elevation. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

West elevation. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Brick wall entrance. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Honggang crown detail. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Honggang crown detail axonometric. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Spiral staircase detail. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Axonometric. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Design optmization, Axonometric. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Renewal strategy, Axonometric. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Before renewal, primary school north façade. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Before renewal, primary school south façade. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Overview axonometric. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation, historic pic. Wuhan Creative Design Center by Office for Urban Renewal.

The renovation project, by Office for Urban Renewal, transforms the school into a cultural center of the residential complex, (which will initially be a real estate promotion center) with a basic program; a library, reading rooms, offices and exhibition halls.

Office for Urban Renewal designed the project using a complex dialogue between the past, with its existing architecture, and the future of the new Wuhan. The dialogue addresses different strategies and is proposed in different layers that go: from the conservation of building materials, inside, to the conservation of four metasequoia (metasequoia glyptostroboides), outside, through a reading of scales and approximations . The project tries to preserve the memory of the place and the feelings of its inhabitants.

Project description by Office for Urban Renewal

The site here was a dormitory of Wuhan Iron And Steel Corporation (WISCO), built in Russian style 70 yrears ago. The target building was original No.3 primary school and located on the central axis of the community. Through various design strategies such as architecture, interior, landscape and exhibition, architects jointly tried to convey the organic renewal view, the historical view and human view.

Based on this multi-level and multi-scale positioning, the practise firstly unlock the largest public open space on the central axis, while completely retain the existing teaching buildings, demolish the playground and other buildings, and present a complete facade of the historical building on the south side. The "Honggang Hill" landscape-architectural design connects it with the city's core facilities on the south side and reserves a main entrance as well. The "Honggang Crown" platform on the roof can visually link the Yangtze River on the north side with the entire Honggang City area on the south side.

This design specifically retains the four metasequoias on the south side of the building, and creates the visual sense of "meteasequoia forest" and conveys the deep ecological concept, by taking advantage of the location of those trees through highly reflective materials and using highly reflective materials.

The north elevation retains the original appearance of the historical building as much as possible, and shows the traces of various historical periods as much as possible, including red bricks in the 1950s, stone-washed stones in the 70s, ceramic tiles in the 90s, and contemporary steel mesh. The steel mesh not only puts a layer of "new clothes" on the building, but also let people vaguely sees its former grace though the mesh.

The "Honggang Crown" on the roof is very iconic. Firstly, it highlights "red" trait of Honggang City; Secondly, it pays tribute to Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge, the representative work of WISCO 70 years ago; Thirdly, the design adheres to the concept of "structure is decorative", which is neither excessively designed, but can also demonstrate the technological achievements of today's Wuhan precision manufacturing.

The entrance landscape is firstly descended and then ascended. The atmosphere created by "yesterday's eaves" gives people the illusion that they are walking over the grass land when they were still children and playing games with cats and clouds on the red roof. The partially replaced glass tiles evoke the memories of going to the house and uncovering tiles when being children. It is unique when combined with luminous lighting.

The main entrance of the building was redesigned with red brick. On the one hand, old materials were used to show the warmth of history; On the other hand, a variety of new tiling techniques were tried to express contemporary design concepts. Many innovative architectural structures are hidden in jagged tiles and arc-shaped rain sheds.

The overall interior design is based on the concept of keeping the original spatial scale as much as possible. In order to achieve such a goal, extremely high requirements are placed on the electromechanical design. The overall interior design style explored dialogue between the ruggedness of history and the exquisiteness of fashion, showing a unique artistic tension.

The spiral staircase with the theme of "Honggang Spirit" is the soul of interior design, also an unresisting checkpoint for tourists. As a vertically linked spiral staircase, the side is wrapped with red steel plates. In two months, the design has undergone four plan revisions. The new structural system and the continuous arc design from top to bottom show the agile effect of Honggang spirit.