Per the architect: “With this project, we look at regeneration with fresh eyes. We open up the building, not only on the façade but also at its heart, the interior courtyard. We enhance the district’s vibrancy, create a stronger connection to the community, and discover an inspiring future for the old neighbourhood of Hongkou.”

Wrapped in a wonderful champagne-colored steel mesh, the reimagined building feels less cluttered thanks to the removal of bulky central escalator banks and the addition of an external structure that extends the improved interior spaces into the outdoors. 

Featuring an opened-up facade and interventions that help the building create its own microclimate, the plaza is in the architects' minds an example of what repurposed urban spaces can contribute to the public sphere. 

“It was an opportunity to create a new type of building,” the firm said in a statement. “Not a shopping mall or an office building but a modern, hybrid space that meets multiple needs.”

AIM was able to collaborate with Discoverscape for the landscape design of the 20,000-square-meter structure. A full gallery of project images can be viewed below.