An ensemble of historic buildings now referred as the Rockbund Project reflects the diversity of the colonial architecture and forms the Northern part of the Bund, Shanghai’s boulevard on the west bank of the Huangpu river. A team of international architects are revitalizing the project by restoring the existing buildings and planning new ones.
The Rockbund Project will incorporate apartments, office complexes, hotels and retail units. David Chipperfield Architects has been commissioned for the revitalization of the eleven buildings.
The aim of the restoration is to restore the dignity of the aged buildings with style. Restoration includes cleaning and repairing of the facades without destroying the original fabric; removal of conversions and expansion of the existing structures within the roof area of some buildings. The expansion of the Andrews & George Building to create Rockbund 6 will see its historic fabric being combined with contemporary architecture. The listed three storey façade of the existing building that marks the southern edge of the planning area will be renovated and eleven storeys added in the form of a stacked construction.
The extensions to the National Industrial Bank (N.I.B.) and the Royal Asiatic Society (R.A.S.) Building are visible from Museum Square, the inner courtyard located in the south-west of the block. The new façades have been constructed using ‘Shanghai Plaster’ of the same quality as that used on the adjoining buildings. The former R.A.S. Building, once China’s first public museum, now houses the Rockbund Art Museum, a museum of contemporary art.
Inside the Art Deco style building, the newly created flexible areas enable a range of different presentation concepts and the volumes of the upper floors have been spatially linked through the creation of a new atrium. The whole Rockbund Project is expected to be completed by 2013. The restoration work on the façades of the historic buildings will be finished by the end of 2010.
