Power Workshop

Architect: benzhe design
Location: Shanghai
Project Year: 2023
Category: Shopping Centres

Su shengliang

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Power Workshop, Shanghai/Benzhe Architecture Design

as Architects

The Power Workshop is located in the EKA Art District in Jinqiao, Pudong New Area, Shanghai. It is originally the equipment and power workshop, Building 462, China Shipbuilding Naval Instrumentation Factory (CSNIF) in the 1950s and 1960s. Commissioned by the owner, we carried out the overall planning and renovation design of the area. In the renewal and revitalization of the building as the core of the park, it’s necessary not only to respect the history and preserve the original cultural memory as much as possible, but also to meet the needs of contemporary business, lifestyle and other multi-functional business, which means that new vitality was to be injected into the old building, and a dialogue that transcends time and space was to be initiated.

The Power Workshop retains the original double-herringbone beam structure and red tiled sloped roof. Isshiki Shimizu red brick was used on the large area of façade, showing a simple and natural style. When it is matched with the design of eaves and window sills made of black weathering steel plates, the building retains a sense of intimacy while recaptures the original industrial flavour. The whole building blocks are interspersed, superimposed, arranged and hollowed out to create a variety of landscapes and rich sensory experience. On the waterfront side to the south, the extension of the red brick floor makes the open swing area seem to float on the water, blurring the boundaries between the building and nature. It fully demonstrates the design concept of Benzhe Architecture Design, that is focusing on the relationship between the building and human beings and nature.

The ground floor is mostly open-plan, which can avoid the damage caused by secondary renovation and allow the building to develop sustainably. On the south side of the building, there is a angle-inserting staircase on the left and right sides, which facilitates the flow to the commercial tenants on the upper floors, and enriches the visual appearance of the facade. In the middle area, the second floor was inserted with long black weathering steel framed glass windows, showing the interior high space without any obstruction, with a sense of transparency and industrial style. For the ground floor, folding line moulding method was cleverly used to add elegance and order to the building.

photo_credit Su shengliang — Su shengliang

A steel-framed glass box was inserted at the southeast corner to introduce natural light. At the same time, the mountain wall on the south face was cut to open in the middle, and a suspended balcony was set up, forming a contrast between reality and reality. In the lower part of the mountain wall, inward stacking was used. The glass box seems to be floating in the air. The chic modelling injected the pulse of the times into the old building.

For the north facade of the building facing the main street, a modern minimalist style was adopted. A smooth overall visual experience was created with the large flat long glass windows and inserted strips of black weathering steel plate balconies. At the same time, continuous stacked-level modelling, the cross-arrangement of glass bricks and red bricks, and the ingenious steel mesh-faced small balconies were adopted in local places, making the north elevation more rich in levels and unique in shape.

In order to enhance the interaction between the building and the whole art district, sky corridors were set on the east and west sides of the Power Workshop, which allow people to enter the neighbouring spaces directly. The west gallery is located in the courtyard at the west end of the building, and is made of black weathering steel plates with square windows on the left and right, resembling a balcony in the sky, forming a visual contrast between cold and warm, modern and traditional, with the red bricks of the building itself. The eastern corridor is made of steel and transparent glass because it passes through the shade of the trees, allowing the building to form a whole with people and nature.

The interior of the building has a raised atrium, where the old wooden beams are exposed, and a number of balconies of different heights are added in a staggered manner. The sunlight shines into the interior through the narrow skylights, making it bright and transparent, where the past and the present are overlapping. The old walls have continuous circular windows, like the portholes of a ship's cabin, which lead people to explore the interior. The old red brick walls and lime texture left by the years show the history of different periods through the change of light and shadow.

The main texture of the interior is terrazzo, colour-matched logs and red bricks, echoing the outer skin of the building. The warm terrazzo staircases run through the architectural space, meandering and moving. The warm tone terrazzo staircase runs through the architectural space circuitously and dynamically. The log decoration covers the lift, passage, connecting corridor and warm terrazzo, allowing people to feel the simplicity, unsophistication and warmth, and the rhythm of nature indoors.

The whole space is both dynamic and static, and warm and powerful. That’s why it is called "Power Workshop".