An Old Factory Becomes a Tech Hub

Beijing-based firm QUCESS Design has transformed an old factory into a new hub for tenants of the Beijing Research Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Technology (BRIMET) in Beijing’s Haidian District. Here lead designer Li Yiming shares more about the ambitious project

Design Anthology: How did you first meet the client?

Li Yiming: The client, from Shuimuwan Science Park, is one of our most long-term clients, and over the years we’ve developed a very good relationship, with good communication and trust. The landlord of the building is the Beijing Research Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Technology (BRIMET).

What was the brief to you for the project?

The project involved transforming an old factory into a high-end office space, mainly catering to science and technology enterprises. We transformed the single-function, one-storey factory building into a technology compound, with parking garages, restaurants, commerce, courtyards, roof gardens and other facilities. In addition, the capacity of electricity has been increased, and infrastructure, such as central air-conditioning and building insulation has been added, so that the building can meets the demands of its new tenants.

What is the overall size of the building?

The original floor area of the building is about 5,000 square meters, and following the renovation the new building spans 22,000 square meters.

Can you tell us what is unique about the building and the location?

The project is located in Beijing’s Haidian District. It was once a hub for research and higher education institutions, and there are many famous universities in the surrounding area. The project is also near the Zhongguancun technology hub and two kilometres away from Tsinghua University and Peking University, and near to leading Internet tech companies.

With the development of Shanghai, many of the original factories in this area have been demolished or renovated into new high-end office buildings or commercial spaces. However, this old factory is one of the few building that can be preserved, which is very rare.

How did you approach the project — what was the idea behind the unique form?

Because it’s rare to have such an old factory building, our focus was on the most in-depth exploration of the old building’s potential value of the old thing.

We separated the new and old structural systems, while integrating the new and old architectural systems. We preserved and utilised the original roof light and door and window openings in the original walls, allowing for good natural lighting conditions. The original old pillars, beams and structural parts, including diagonal braces, were also kept intact. We realise that all old things have potential value, and as designers, we need to fully excavate these values and bring them into play.

In order to minimise the cost, we used conventional construction techniques and methods. We adopted a plan of maintaining the original structure and also building a new structure. The height of the original space under the beam is about ten meters, so through careful design and calculation, we dug underground to the bottom of the original structure, and designed a three-story above-ground space and a semi-underground parking garage. At the same time, the original structure is used on the third floor to form a huge open space for flexible use.

The client also wanted a brand-new entrance, so we opened a corner of the old building and embedded a glass curtain to form a visually impactful entrance.

Was sustainability a consideration and if so, how was that incorporated into the construction and design?

Sustainability is an important dimension of our firm’s design approach — the first ‘S’ in QUCESS stands for ‘sustainable (the other ‘S’ is for ‘server’).

In this project, the original building structure was preserved to the greatest extent. No additional decoration was done in the interior, which minimised the resources required for construction. The bricks removed during the reconstruction process were also used in the newly built partition walls. The inner walls and roofs are insulated to reduce energy consumption, and the building makes full use of the available natural light.

The implementation of these sustainable design strategies can also reduce construction costs and operating costs, thereby ensuring the long-term commercial value of the project.

Images / Zheng Yan