The city district of Bo Gang, in the city of Hui Zhou in southern China, is undergoing an urban transformation. A new high speed train and a road are soon too be carving through the old streets of Bo Gang. The area is moving on towards a newer urban future, but can this be done while keeping the cultural heritage alive?
AFR are helping the Chinese authorities to to exactly that. Inspired by Scandinavian successes in this area. AFR has desgined a new 6 storey financial centre. At ground level, the charming brick buildings of the original village of Bo Gang are renovated and rebuilt. These maintain the spirit of the old street culture and to these are added other old buildings of note from the surrounding community. Buildings which would otherwise be lost to posterity.
The new 30 000 m2 Financial centre is designed to step outwards every 2 storeys, thus allowing light to reach the ground level buildings. Thus the re-establishment of Chinese society is seen to evolve from the roots of the countryside and the work of the people who live there.
