Republic No. 1

Fuzhou,an ancient city with over 7,000 years’ historical and cultural accumulation and more than 2,200 years of city-building history, has been an important port city since the Song Dynasty.
Located at the crossroads of the Qiaonan Roundabout of the Laocangshan, "Republic No. 1" connects Yantai Mountain, Fanchuanpu and the Exhibition Center, being regarded as an essential part in the historical context of "Yantai Mountain - Fanchuanpu". Its predecessor was Chunji Tea Shop, the first tea factory in Fuzhou. In the period of the Republic of China, it served as a major source port of Fuzhou Maritime Silk Road and a trading center for foreign trade of Fujian tea.This time, Huarong Group merged the old and repaired the new, paying tribute to the history with architecture, and restoring the ancient charm of cultural relics, bringing the project to light again.
Passing through the narrow corridor, the dark green sofa and the old stool come into view. In the graceful atmosphere, the collision of colors, the air is filled with unspoken ambiguity. It is very much like the classic scene presented in "In the Mood for Love", pulling people back to the golden age of the last century.
Going inside, the old furniture of the Republic of China and the glazed lampshade with the imprint of the times have both practicality and retro tone. With selected brightly-colored soft furnishings, every transition and frame is a well-conceived picture there.
For a long time, Republic No.1 stood quietly in Laocang Mountain, withstanding wind and rain. Even so, it still witnesses the changes and development of a city in a unique form. Like the recorder and inheritor of civilization, it has not only witnessed the scenery of a metropolis infested with foreign adventures in the golden age, but after development and repair, it will also create brilliance in the new era.
After undertaking the project, we conducted a field trip. Seeing the dilapidated original "Provincial Foreign Trade Warehouse". While being full of enthusiasm, we have also been in awe of it. Therefore, when conceiving this project, respecting the past has been an essential context. On the basis of retaining the original eaves and appearance features, we reorganized the interior to create a place where time and space, function and connotation coexist, and contemporary and traditional are connected in an orderly manner.
Since the building itself is in a double-herringbone roof structure, the story heights of different sections change regularly. According to the preset of people's activities in the interior space, we reserve a high enough part for important functional blocks. Therefore, the space is divided into three areas: front, middle and back, which are used for the president's office and reception, private exhibitions, and leisure and entertainment purposes respectively. At the connection of the blocks, there are corridors, wine cellars, KTV rooms, operation rooms, toilets, and other functional service areas.