The Starbucks Reserve flagship store, which was transformed from the former site of the Zhejiang Industrial Bank Building, has become a Tianjin Internet celebrity punch card;
The renovated Duan Qirui old residence was reused;
The "mysterious" building on Tai'an Road, the Anrigan Church, is also about to be unveiled...
These small Western-style buildings, which have been sleeping for more than ten years or even twenty years, are now quietly transforming and showing themselves in a new posture to the world, and their renovators are Zhang Wei, an expert in the restoration of cultural relics buildings and an associate professor at the School of Architecture of Tianjin University.
▲Associate Professor Zhang Wei, School of Architecture, Tianjin University
"I install an elevator for the Qingwang Mansion"
In the past twelve years, Zhang Wei has participated in the renovation of more than a hundred small Western-style buildings. He said that as early as his university days, he was fascinated by the small Western-style building, "'Beijing Courtyard, Tianjin Small Western-style Building', the small Western-style building is a precious heritage left by history to Tianjin, and it is also a collection of world architectural art." I have been particularly interested in small Western-style buildings since I was a child, and I remember that in my junior year, Tianjin University and the University of Tokyo cooperated to carry out a research on modern small Western-style buildings, Jingyuan, German Concession, Zhang Xun's former residence... Teachers and students of the Department of Architecture walked through the small Western-style buildings in Tianjin. In my senior year, I participated in an activity at the University of Melbourne and made a renovation plan for Zhang Xun's former residence. ”
After graduating from Tianda, Zhang Wei applied to be a visiting scholar and went to France for a two-year study. During this period, he visited many ancient buildings in the West, and the experience of repairing and reusing these ancient buildings deeply attracted him.
"These buildings are hundreds of years old, they have been repaired and remodeled many times, incorporating a lot of modern equipment, like electric lights and telephones, elevator air conditioning and so on. For example, the famous St. Peter's Church, which was remodeled with air conditioning and elevators, there are elevators of different eras, nineteenth century, twentieth century... Another example is the back slope of the Acropolis, where an open-air elevator was installed, which is a barrier-free facility..."Zhang Wei said.
After returning to China, Zhang Wei wanted to apply these experiences and revitalize the ancient buildings in China, but he could not find the right opportunity. "The restoration of cultural relics has always been a big debate in our country, and I remember a documentary that reflects this problem. At the time of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the International Paralympic Committee proposed to install temporary barrier-free facilities on the three halls of the Forbidden City and the Great Wall to allow the disabled to go up on their own, but some cultural relics experts objected, and this matter was not done. This incident touched Zhang Wei a lot, he believes that the rational use and protection of cultural relics buildings coexist, "more and more cultural relics buildings, to be repaired every year, really can not afford to raise, has been vacant on the building is not good, according to the 'style Lei' record, if the royal buildings of the Qing Dynasty are uninhabited, they will collapse in ten years." Therefore, the building can only be reasonably transformed and used by modern people, so as to realize its value. ”
Most of the small Western-style buildings in Tianjin have gone through a hundred years of ups and downs, and the owners inside have also changed from the former emperors and business giants to the people's homes of new China, carrying the vicissitudes of Tianjin over the past hundred years, and witnessing the new process of Tianjin's modernization and development. Zhang Wei often wanders in the streets where Western-style buildings gather on Fifth Avenue, Jiefang Road, Yifeng District, etc., looking forward to these small Western-style buildings to regain a new life. "Although Tianjin has been doing the protection and utilization of small western-style buildings, the effect is not ideal, some as residential residences, some into office buildings, some as restaurant photo studios, and some are always locked doors, spider silk dust nets ..."
▲The building inside the Qingwang Mansion in Tianjin
Opportunities are always reserved for those who are prepared. In 2009, Tianjin Style Finishing Company planned to transform the Qingwangfu into a city living room, integrating catering, performances, conference reception and other functions, especially mentioning the need to install an elevator. Upon receiving this task, Zhang Wei was overjoyed, saying, "There are two points that are particularly important for installing facilities for cultural relics buildings. One is recognizability, which used to be done as one, this concept is wrong, and the contrast that should be done is very large, that is, the people who come to visit look new, which is different from the original cultural relics; the second is reversibility, that is, the things that are made can be demolished without destroying the original structure. The installation of elevators also follows these two points, using steel structure and glass materials, choosing to install on the back of the outdoor building, does not affect the landscape, and does not need to dismantle and modify the room structure. ”
In order to do a good job in the first project, Zhang Wei's team's transformation of the Qingwang Mansion can be said to be excellence, "for example, the repair of the wall skin, we are not using a shovel to shovel, nor directly brushing the paint, but after wetting, the previous paint is pushed down layer by layer to restore the original appearance of the building." For example, when we were tidying up a room, we found that there was a spray pattern on the previous wall, which was very beautiful, and we selected a relatively intact piece and framed it with a wooden frame for display. In addition, when we installed the air conditioner, we found that the plaster line on the first floor was very exquisite, and could not destroy the original appearance, so we thought of a lot of ways to finally put the air conditioner in the basement, and when we installed the air outlet, we also found a lot of places, and finally in the original building reserved heating kiln, the floor under the heating was dug as a return air outlet. Each floor is treated differently, and the solution is studied according to the actual situation of the building. The doors and windows here are better preserved, but they have been painted with many layers of paint before, we take off the doors and windows first, expose the original material of the wood, repair the old decaying place, and all the metal inserts and hardware are repaired back to the factory. ”
▲The elevator of the Qingwang Mansion
The roof of the Church of Anrigan is red
The renovation project of the Qingwang Mansion was indeed a hit, and Shan Jixiang, then director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, praised the project, and Zhang Wei gradually became famous in the industry. Many owners of small western-style buildings who want to repair them have tried to contact him, and the Project of Anrigan Church is one of them.
▲ The interior of the beautiful Anligan Church
When it comes to Anligan Church, both Tianjin natives and outsiders may feel a little strange. It was founded by the Christian Episcopal Church (also known as the Anrigan Church), and its architectural style has a typical English style, which is different from other church styles in Tianjin. And over the years, the Church of Anrigan has also been vacant, with cool-colored green brick walls and closed doors and windows, making people feel as if they come from the mystery of religion in the Middle Ages.
In 2016, Hao Boya, who returned from Australia, took over the development of Anrigan, "I have always been very concerned about it and wanted to transform it into an art center, where the main hall is perfect for choral, chamber music and classical music performances." But before 2009, it was dilapidated, and the roof of the main hall was not even tiled, and it was covered with linoleum, which was not suitable for renovation. It is said that the transformation in 2009 was done by Zhang Wei, so in the later internal transformation, I looked for him again. ”
▲ Anrigan Church before restoration
Recalling several restoration processes at the Anrigan Church, Zhang Wei smiled, saying that many interesting stories happened during this period, "The photos left by the Anrigan Church are all black and white, what is the color of the roof tiles?" This cannot be imagined, saying that the building is gray and the roof is gray. We found that the roof tiles of the main hall bell tower were red, and inferred that the main hall was also red. The bell tower of the back building is conical, requiring specific small tiles, we specially made beef tongue tiles according to the traces left, this tile came out, in the Tianjin Wenbao volunteer circle on the explosion, think the red tiles are too ugly, everyone thinks it should be gray. The buildings in Tianjin's history have not used gray tiles, they are all terracotta tiles. Later, when we renovated the yard, fragments of tiles were dug out from under the ground, which confirmed our speculation and was also recognized by tianjin cultural security volunteers. The walls of the church we tried to preserve the original traces, not completely repaired, this is an English church, the English architectural concept is the beauty of the broken, so we take the principle of minimal intervention. ”
▲ Restored Anligan Church
Tianjin also has an internet celebrity Starbucks
At the end of 2017, Heping District recommended Zhang Wei to Starbucks and asked him to design a check for the Starbucks Reserve flagship store. Upon receiving the invitation, Zhang Wei was very excited, because the location of the Starbucks Reserve flagship store was in the former Zhejiang Industrial Bank building. Zhang Wei said: "This building is not ordinary, it was designed by Mr. Shen Liyuan, one of the first chinese architects who stayed in Foreign Countries and one of the founders of the Department of Architecture of Tianjin University, and it was a bank that flourished in the Republic of China period." Moreover, this building is located at the intersection of Tianjin Binjiang Road and Heping Road' at the 'big copper coin', which can be said to be the most core location of Tianjin Golden Street, which is both a cultural relics building and a representative urban landscape, and its activation can be said to have special significance. ”
Zhang Wei did not expect that the implementation of this project was difficult. "This building was listed as a cultural relics protection unit in Tianjin in 1997, so its transformation is very important to everyone." In the process, there are many contradictions between the cultural relics department, the user Starbucks, and including the Heping Zone, mainly the contradictions of cultural relics protection and commercial development. The first contradiction is that Starbucks wants to remove the counter inside considering the customer's shopping line, and the Cultural Relics Bureau and we both insist on not demolishing it. I am a consultant, and I told Starbucks about the significance of this counter, how to do it is in line with the requirements of cultural relics protection, and how to do it in the case of protecting the counter can meet his requirements. ”
▲The lobby of the transformed Starbucks selection flagship store
The carved marble lion counter left over from the Zhejiang Industrial Bank period has been preserved, but in the renovation plan, the clashes between merchants and cultural protection experts have been one after another. "The biggest conflict is the operating table in the hall, it has a lot of water supply and sewage, according to the regulations, the water and the water cannot be together, the strong electricity and the weak electricity cannot be together, so four or five sinks, you have to hit dozens of eyes, the marble floor has to be beaten into a sieve, this is definitely not OK."
▲The stone lion statue with a history of more than 100 years under the bar
At that time, Zhang Wei gave a plan to make a table on the operating table, and all the pipes went into the ground from a hole. The cultural protection experts are very satisfied with this program. But if you make a table, the waiter will be 30cm taller than the customer, for the customer the waiter is condescending, the feeling is not good, Starbucks does not agree. Both sides were tough and didn't give in to each other, and Starbucks even considered exiting. "The building has been vacant for a decade and is still hoping to find a solution. Allowing a few holes to be punched in the store is already the biggest concession made by the cultural protection department to the reformers. "We repeatedly observed and pondered on the ground where the operating table was located, and finally found that there were several stones near here that were a little different from other stones, and it was confirmed that they were once damaged and then repaired, so we added casing protection to those water and sewage, strong and weak electricity on these new stones, and then merged and punched holes, and finally only 6 holes were punched." At the same time, the ground is also protected by three layers of anti-penetration, anti-aging and waterproof, which protects the mosaic marble of 100 years ago to the greatest extent. ”
▲Comparison of old and new at the industrial bank counter
In 2019, Starbucks selected flagship stores to open, and quickly became popular on the Internet. Looking back on the transformation process in the past three years, Zhang Wei sighed: "It can be said that this time the repair and transformation have followed the principle of minimal intervention and reversibility of cultural relics protection, and we must restore the atmosphere of Industrial Bank at that time as much as possible." The State Administration of Cultural Relics came specifically to investigate, and they recognized it very much, and promoted it to the whole country as a case of cultural relics transformation and revitalization. ”
At the Starbucks selection flagship store, the reporter saw Manin, a customer who was drinking coffee. Ma Ning said that he is a native of Tianjin, but he also often comes here to punch the clock: "Every time I come, I have to queue up for a long time, but I still want to come, sitting in such a building and drinking coffee, I feel that the taste of coffee is more mellow." And every time there are new feelings. Looking at the vaults and the marble floor of the mosaic flowers, I think they are particularly beautiful. This kind of careful taste of a building is much better than a visit to a random place. I think this is a suitable way to open a small western-style building. ”
Black technology on the roof of Duan Qirui's former residence
On Anshan Road, there is a red lacquered gate, and inside the door is the closed and transformed Duan Qirui old residence. Whenever she passes by this red gate, 71-year-old Ms. Zhang will sigh: "This was duan Qirui's former residence, and it was once my alma mater, Anshan Road Middle School, I have been here for 5 years, it has been transforming, and I don't know what to change." ”
What do you want to change it to? This is also a question that has been haunting him since Zhang Wei took over the renovation of Duan Qirui's former residence project in 2018.
▲ Duan Qirui's former residence with the gate closed
Duan Qirui's former residence, built in 1920, is a two-storey European classical style building and a cultural relics protection unit in Tianjin. After liberation, it was used by the Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League, Anshan Road Middle School, heping District Teaching and Research Office, Heping District Teachers' Training School and other units, but it was idle after 2010. In 2018, the Tianjin Landscape Architecture Finishing Company was preparing to carry out a complete overhaul of Duan Qirui's former residence and restore its original appearance, so it found Zhang Wei. "The building is most characteristic of the fact that it has a large timber-framed cornice and a large timber-framed roof, and in the middle of the large roof there is a circular Western-style pavilion with heavy eaves. This large roof and pavilion make the building stand out from the crowd. Unfortunately, the 1976 earthquake damaged the large roof, and the most distinctive roof was demolished. Zhang Wei said.
▲Photos of the interior of the restored roof
Now, this big roof is to be restored, but there is no previous drawing, what is the roof system? To this end, Zhang Wei searched for a lot of information, and found a cultural security enthusiast to collect historical photos and finally determined the standard, but how to deal with the structure inside? Zhang Wei decided to apply new materials and new processes. "Based on historical photographs, we inferred its roof form. But the specific structure inside is not known, considering the construction problem, because there are houses below, so try to use prefabricated assembly, that is, on the outside, direct installation, which is conducive to the protection of the house below. We use new Canadian technology, heavy wood structure. This kind of structure, the application of integrated wood, this material is high strength, non-deformation, but also environmental protection and fire protection. ”
▲ Heavy timber roof and newly installed stairs
Above the newly built roof, there are several glass hemispheres, Zhang Wei told reporters that this is the lighting pipe, through this black technology can achieve green lighting: "This transparent hemisphere, is the lighting hood, through the lighting hood can efficiently collect outdoor natural light, there is a light reflection channel below, by the diffusion device at the bottom of the system can evenly and efficiently illuminate natural light to any place where light is needed, from dawn to dusk, even rainy and cloudy days, do not need to turn on the lights, energy saving and environmental protection." ”
Duan Qirui's former residence was rebuilt later because of the change of ownership several times, neglect of protection, and the great earthquake, so the annex and other places were later rebuilt. These new buildings do not belong to the cultural relics themselves, which provides a lot of creative space for Zhang Wei's transformation. He found that the traffic between the original main building and the newly built annex was not very inconvenient, so he made a modern glass connector behind the main building: "The annex building is already covered, not a pure cultural relic, so a large glass box was built, and a shared space was made to connect the annex building and the main building." And in the past, the large glass window behind the main building was beautiful, but few people saw it, and now it can be displayed. This connection is a breakthrough. ”
▲Schematic diagram of glass shared space in the annex of the main building
▲ Glass sharing space and nice windows
Duan Qirui's former residence is suitable for modern people because of its good repair and revitalization, and will be used as an office building for Lenovo Group. Seeing that his carefully renovated small Western-style building has a new use, Zhang Wei feels particularly pleased:
This is the process of cultural relics activation, in fact, cultural relics are not necessarily placed there, it can be used very well. In modern China, when you look at Tianjin, there are many small Western-style buildings in Tianjin, many of which are cultural relics. This is both a wealth left to our city and a subject for us. How can these buildings be protected and put to good use?
In the past few years, I have been building small Western-style buildings in Tianjin, and I have felt more and more changes in everyone's concepts, which is not only a change in the concept of the academic community, but also a change in the cultural relics protection department and government departments, and everyone has more thinking about the protection and opening up mode of cultural relics. This makes the small Western-style building in Tianjin have a better possibility, and also has a new model for the protection and revitalization of cultural relics.
Reporter | Song Zhen Wang Rui
Edit | Chen Tong