Home » Sunday » Home and Design
Reborn Bund 22 now culture hub
Print Edition
A century-old red-brick building on the Bund has just become the last historic building along the Huangpu River to be renovated and opened to the public — as a fashion, boutique and culture center that is coming to life this weekend.
The six-story building known as the Bund 22 was originally built in 1906 for foreign financial institution Swire Pacific. A secret vault in which the institution stored gold bars was built on the underground level of the building, so it has also long been regarded as a place with good feng shui.
China’s earliest ballpoint pen factory, the Fenghua Pen Company, also was once based in the building.
It has been listed as a city-level protected historic building. Now, it is being used for tailored brands, “arty culture” businesses, and restaurants. The vault is a wine cellar.
The building, especially the handmade original red bricks on the facade, have been preserved according to the original look, said Katherine Lu, marketing events manager with the South Bund Industrial Development Co, which took charge of the renovation work. Lu said many local experts on cultural relics protection were invited to guide the work.
The Eclectic-style building with arched windows and gates on the balcony is the southernmost of the dozens of historic buildings on the Bund.
It originally had four stories. Swire Pacific built another two buildings to the south and west of the original building as warehouse space for a shipping company it owned.
Workers unloaded cargo from ships berthing at the port along the Huangpu River and took cargo to across the former Zhongshan Road E. to store in the warehouses, according to historic photos at the Shanghai Municipal Archives.
During the building’s peak, foreign staff could be seen through each arched window of the building while lines of transportation workers carried cargo between ships and the building, according to the archives.
The building was taken over by the city government in 1949 after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The government allocated the building to the Fenghua Pen Company and the structure began to decay.
It became derelict in the 1980s, with its iconic facade covered in lime. Two stories were added, damaging the structure. “The inner facade had been cast off while strips appeared on the wall. Water leaks also were found on the roof,” said Li Mingjun of the cultural bureau of Huangpu District.
The district government along with South Bund development company launched a renovation in 2009 that cost over 100 million yuan (US$16.3 million).
It was finished late last year. A grand opening of five more stores in the building was held yesterday.
Cirque le Soir, a London-based club featuring circus performances, opened in the building. The Glorious Jewel from Taiwan, a pipe shop and a vegetarian food restaurant also opened. A free enamel exhibition opens to the public in the building this weekend.
“The Bund 22 shall ... mainly develop cultural and innovation industries to be a trend for future development of the buildings on the Bund,” said Wu Meiseng, chief designer of the Tianzifang, a popular cultural hub.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
