The large park located at the north end of the historical
Bund covers and area 17.000 sqm and represents the most outstanding prime
location of the city, a urban oasis from which appreciate an amazing view of
the bund and the Huangpu river. The park hosts at his center two main buildings
where the former British Consulate and the former residence of the consul were
located, for a total area of 4.500 sqm. The renovation project started at
beginning of 2009 and was completed by early summer of 2010.
Envisioned as a multi-functional venue for both private and
government functions, the larger building houses the more formal convention
facilities while the smaller villa houses the various F&B facilities.
In this project Kokaistudios
brings ahead its specific vision of restoration and renovation of heritage
buildings in Shanghai by conceiving the interior design
in a way to dialogue with the original strong identity of the heritage
buildings but at the same time to answer to the necessity to set a modern and
contemporary style for this kind of venues in China.
These two targets could be very difficult to get in an
environment usually very traditional in matter of design
for these kinds of institutional venues as well still not very experienced in
approaching the historical restoration of heritage buildings in modern and
contemporary ways.
For these reasons Kokaistudios
conceived a project based on a continuous balance between preservation and
innovation, a compromise between the traditional functional settings of local
institutions and the demands of an elegant international audience.