The project is located in the former British leased area of Hankou where there are several century-old proteced buildings. The process of urbanization has brought about the transformation of the building functions of the original concession plots. Built in 1905, the Pinghe Packaging Factory, originally was a foreign cotton packaging warehouse founded by the British business Liddell Brothers; After the reform and opening-up, it was scattered and rented out as hotels, bars, warehouses and other functions. The new transformation design will integrate and transform it into a cultural and creative industrial park.
The center of the site is the former residence of Lutz, which was built in 1913 (It was the bishop’s residence before liberation, and is now the museum of the riverbank district). And in the central space of the project site, the original church building has been removed for the construction of the first tunnel across the Yangtze River. The vacant lot was divided into small courtyards by several ownership units: The courtyard around Lutz’s house has become a outdoor repository for the museum’s collection; The courtyard around the ventilation shaft of the Yangtze River Tunnel occupies most of the space along Shengli Street. The ventilation shaft has been built in the shape of an ancient bell tower, becoming one of the tallest structures in the site and an unmistakable landmark.
On the north side, the dormitory of the Foreign Trade Bureau and the original Poyang Street Primary School have long been vacated, and the original courtyard wall has divided the site into a smaller and mutually isolated spatial pattern. On the northwest corner of the site is the Russian Orthodox Church built in 1893, which occupies a position on the corner of the road. During the renovation process a few years ago, it also formed a courtyard space of its own. In addition to the four roads around the site, the century-old preservation buildings are surrounded by Shengteaching Bureau, Jingming Foreign Bank Building, Bao ‘an Foreign Bank Building, Mechali Bank, Ye Peng’s Former Residency, Shaxun Foreign Bank, etc. These historic buildings are of different styles, and together with the Ping Ping packaging plant on the site, they form the urban appearance and texture of the original British Concession complex.

The first step of landscape design is to extend the urban texture of this area. By sorting out the functions and spatial layout of the plots, the original fragmented space is integrated and knitted, so as to respond to the urban axis requirements of this area in urban planning. The axis of the city was not formed during the British Concession, but as a conduit to the Yangtze River due to the open-cut construction of the tunnel. This passage destroyed the texture and density of the original concession area, but from the other side, it provides a rare public green space in the high-density block, and has the function of a green corridor hanging along the river. In the future, it will also connect with the public green space of Hankou River Beach on the bank of the Yangtze River in Wuhan.
In the first step of opening the axis of the green corridor, the walls between the plots should be dismantled, the originally divided plots should be mended, and the complex internal plane flow lines should be twisted to integrate them into interconnected Spaces. Also thanks to the selfless support of various ownership units, the wall was removed or moved back smoothly, forming the square on the central axis facing the former residence of Luz.The integrated outdoor space consists of both open squares and narrow alleyways, creating Spaces of varying densities. The open square is paved with large size granite; Roadway space is 100x100mm small stone pavement; The atrium of Pinghe Packing Plant is paved with 100x50mm slender granite; The different specifications of pavements echo different spatial densities.
The central axis is above the Yangtze River Tunnel. First of all, according to the size of the building, Lutz’s former residence is not big enough to bear the heavy responsibility of being axis building. However, from the perspective of urban location, it is enclosed by the long side of the buildings on both sides, with a strong sense of perspective and depth. In order for Lutz House to assume the responsibility of the axis building, a ceremonial shallow water surface was designed to enhance the sense of ritual. When an event is held, the water can be drained and become part of the square again.