The Heito 1909 project transformed Taiwan's historical sugar factory into a public gathering place, reimagined the wasteland barrier that struck a decade ago, and integrated community resources around the city. Significantly, the park provided people a place to engage in quality natural environments within a metropolitan city. This preservation and adaptive reuse of ruins into the landscape is the first and only in Taiwan. The unique design creatively incorporates the ruins and damaged structures into the urban facility for people to experience.

The design endeavored to recover and identify each remaining structure. An underground factory and five Waste water basin are found in the park, the foundation of the structure are intact, create a typology challenge to adaptive into public facility. The ruins are like microscope of Pingtung’s (Heito) history, different type of pavilions interpretations each section of history, a time of exploration and agriculture.

1895-1994 / A city born from sugar
During the 16th colonization era, sugar was a profitable commodity. The Dutch East India Company developed the sugar industry in Taiwan due to its geographical location and climate.
HEITO 1909 / Sugar Factory
In 1909, the Heito Sugar Factory begun operating the sugar industry stimulating Heito's development. From 1910, the Governor fully implemented the Street Urban Development laying the foundation as a modern city.
1939-1945 / USN bombing raid
During World War II, cane sugar was an important cash crop and strategic goods, byproduct alcohol could be used as fuel. Heito Sugar Factory and Heito Airport became the main targets for the Allied attacks.
1977-1994 / Industrial pollution
Because the sugarcane refinery created a large amount of bagasse, a factory was built to transform the waste into paper.
1994-2018 / Abandoned and Forgotten
The paper factory was closed, resulting from the rising protests of environmental pollution. Public entry was forbidden since 1909, and most buildings and buried, the park remained a mystery to the public for a century.

The major work of this project is to research and find out the potential, existing structure as a starting point provide a story to play with. Rather than obsessing with iconic buildings, by modifying the existing structure into different functions, create a deduction way of the design process, to create a new possibility and outcome. Structure has been identify in the site are two factories underground foundation, and five water basins in varied of size, all the factories buildings has been demolished in 1994, what’s underground survived the demolition. Factory buildings are pure function and efficient structure, geometric shape of structure create typology challenge for reinterpret into civil use.