Hefei Xinliangcang Grain Warehouse KUKUPARK Cultural and Commercial Block Renovation & Reconstruction Project

I.Project Background
This project was originally the site of a mechanized grain depot in Anhui Province. In the early stage of China's reform and opening up, the country attached great importance to food security. In 1993, Premier Zhu Rongji presided over the establishment of the 122 Special Fund, which simultaneously built 18 super large mechanized grain depots across the country. This case is one of them.
With the rapid development of cities, the mechanized grain depot in Anhui Province has completed its important mission. In the face of the precious wealth left by history, the design focus of this renovation is how to remember culture and history, innovate and regenerate them, endow them with functions that meet the current consumption needs of China, and integrate aesthetic values under the premise of controllable cost.
The case is located in the sub central area of Huangqianwang, Shushan District, Hefei City. It is adjacent to Huaining Road in the east and Wangjiang Road in the south. The north end of the plot is directly connected to Mount Huangshan Road. The west wall is the dedicated railway line of Hefei Thermoelectricity. The subway line 6 station is located in the southeast corner of the project plot. The transportation is convenient, and there are many high net worth people in the surrounding communities.
The current buildings on the site are centered around a set of mechanized silos and precision rice processing workshops, with tens of thousands of square meters of interconnected open spaces arranged in an orderly manner to store grain and other related materials. Some temporary steel structure buildings and large railway freight platform steel structure ceilings are also preserved in the warehouse area. Along the original railway freight line, there are still some scattered remaining auxiliary buildings in the storage area distributed at the north and south ends.
Through the above analysis of the internal and external conditions of the project, we have summarized the strengths and weaknesses of this case.
Strengths:
1.The geographical location is very advantageous, and the transportation is very convenient.
2.The surrounding commercial area has become a climate, and the main axis of Huaining Road's commercial culture is becoming increasingly perfect.
3.The spatial scale within the venue is spacious and suitable for creating a cultural atmosphere in the neighborhood.
4.The spatial scale within the venue is spacious and suitable for creating a cultural atmosphere in the neighborhood.
Weaknesses:
1.Currently, the venue only has one entrance and exit on Huaining Road, which cannot meet the needs of safety and transportation.
2.A small number of buildings in the storage area have exceeded their service life and there are certain structural safety issues.
3.The current warehouse buildings are mostly brick and concrete structures and lack door and window openings, making it difficult to renovate the exterior walls.
4.Due to the original storage nature of this case, there are significant deficiencies in the basic supporting facilities within the site, such as power distribution, fire protection, parking, environmental protection, energy conservation, etc.
II.Design Concepts Based on Cultural Context
Through the analysis and sorting of the above current conditions, we need to find a clear transformation framework, clarify what kind of connotation this case should incorporate, and what kind of value it should achieve.
The Chinese nation entered the agricultural civilization more than ten thousand years ago. From ancient times to the present, the emphasis on agricultural production and food security has been deeply ingrained and integrated into our genes.
As early as the Neolithic period, our ancestors began building granaries to store food.
With the evolution of history, the form of grain warehouses has gradually developed, shifting from manually managed closed warehouses to mechanized grain warehouses.
In the 21st century, China's reform and opening up has accelerated rapidly, urban construction is advancing rapidly, and urban boundaries are also expanding rapidly. Many old industrial plants, including large grain warehouses, have either withdrawn from the historical stage or relocated to further urban peripheral areas. The remaining old buildings urgently need to be upgraded and renovated to regain their vitality.
The General Office of the State Council has specifically issued guidance to encourage the transformation of old industrial parks into "commercial complexes, consumer experience centers, fitness and leisure entertainment centers, and other multifunctional, comprehensive, and new consumption carriers".
The mechanized grain depot in Anhui Province has completed its historical mission and is about to embark on its rebirth and rebirth.
The current granary in this case is tall and majestic, with strong recognition and full of architectural charm. Architectural elements such as railway greenhouses and external steel ladders have a breathtaking sense of scenery and ceremony. The original mechanized grain storage facilities carry the historical memory of the 1990s. The abandoned railway dedicated line within the site has accumulated a symbolic aesthetic texture, creating a special sentiment of the post industrial era.
Through the extraction of the above elements, we have found the cultural foundation of the project, and by extracting historical and cultural symbols, we have started with architectural renovation, visual communication, commercial scenario transformation, and other aspects, forming a nostalgic warehouse style commercial BLOCK with architecture as the carrier; The core design concept of this project is to create a food themed IP with culture as the output, and a comprehensive transformation strategy for a new intelligent low-carbon park with technology as the means, in order to form a new cultural and commercial collection that integrates characteristic parks, cultural parks, innovation parks, smart parks, low-carbon parks, and environmental protection parks.
Once, this was a place for storing food, but in the future, it will be a place for spiritual nourishment.
III.Design Points Based on Business Needs
Through the above contextual exploration, we have found the core design concept of the cultural and commercial new collection in this case, and clarified what we need to do. Next, we need to clarify which aspects of this case should be implemented and how to proceed.
Following the overall idea and direction of cultural and commercial transformation, the core program of this project design should revolve around the basic attributes of cultural and commercial projects, in order to achieve a comfortable experience for tourists, peace of mind for businesses, orderly operation, and a soulful commercial environment.
Based on the analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of previous projects, we will further explore and propose the design points of this case.
1.Based on the characteristics of the current building and the existing road network, reasonably sort out the site relationships, plan commercial spaces in different zones, set up block commercial clusters, and clarify user behavior routes; Increase pedestrian and vehicular entrances and exits, set up reasonable pedestrian and vehicular flow lines, ensure smooth and safe traffic, and thus achieve the functional transformation from a warehouse style park to a non-standard commercial district.
2.Adhere to the concept of "less is more", take the unique form of large warehouse buildings as the aesthetic tone, do not deliberately pile up exaggerated shapes, and create the 10000 ton vertical barrel warehouse and its surrounding area as the visual center of the park, strengthen its philosophical meaning as a spiritual tower, create a cultural high ground of the park, and construct exclusive aesthetic symbols.
3.Establish the cultural core of the new granary, create the cartoon IP image of "Youmi", and target the main customer groups of post-80s, post-90s, and post-00s, so that they can spend time here, relax, and create a relaxed park atmosphere. Combined with the unique architectural site, create a unique narrative space for this case.
4.Adhere to the principle of de design renovation, avoid major demolitions and changes, and preserve the original planning texture and spatial logic while meeting building standards; Utilize and reasonably renovate the original building structure, retain the majority of the original exterior wall materials, do not blindly pursue exaggerated decoration, respect the actual needs of future users, provide the basic conditions for natural growth of merchants, and effectively control the initial construction investment.
5.Focus on the future, combine mobile client application platforms, and innovate to create a fully digital smart park.
6.Adopt various latest new energy technologies to comprehensively create Anhui's first low-carbon commercial district, including solar photovoltaic power generation, air source heat pump system, and park water storage central air conditioning system.
7.Combining with the new energy operation and management center, create a comprehensive service architecture for smart and green new energy parking, including a new energy vehicle charging network and a contactless payment system.
8.All garbage in the park is classified and treated; All sewage is discharged in compliance with regulations; Source disposal of catering waste gas, creating an environmentally friendly and eco-friendly park.
9.Comprehensive landscape enhancement and beautification of the existing disorderly green plants in the park, with a focus on creating a 6000 square meter urban center green space at the entrance of the park.
10.Conduct structural safety inspections on existing buildings, and then classify and renovate them based on the conclusions of structural safety assessments. Comprehensively improve the construction of fire protection facilities, rainwater and sewage systems, and power facilities within the park.
IV.Design Strategies Based on Practical Requirements
Based on the above ten design points, we have identified the main direction for the renovation design of this project. Furthermore, we will start from the practical needs of the project, comprehensively achieve the design goals of "characteristic park, cultural park, innovation park, smart park, low-carbon park, and environmental protection park", and propose the following planning strategies.
1.Entrance and exit design: on the basis of the original main exit of Huaining Road, add the main entrance and exit of Wangjiang Road and Mount Huangshan Road, so that people and vehicles can pass through; Add two emergency entrances and exits on the east and north sides of the site, and set up two emergency evacuation areas in combination with the Huaining Road entrance and Wangjiang Road entrance to meet the needs of emergency evacuation.
2.Traffic Design: Due to the large size of the site, a large ring style pedestrian and vehicle separation is adopted, resulting in a long distance for pedestrian traffic and inconvenience for future use. Therefore, we optimized the design by adopting a clustered vehicular loop, forming three main vehicular loops, each with a safe pedestrian space, and achieving local pedestrian and vehicular separation within the site.
3.Open Space Design: Based on the characteristics of commercial projects, this case utilizes two emergency evacuation sites to set up large lawn landscape barns, greens, and large urban landscape theme squares, in order to meet the needs of open space in commercial districts.
4.Business Positioning Design: Based on the characteristics of the original site and tailored to local conditions, this project innovatively creates a commercial pattern of "one center, two axes, and five areas". The two internal roads facing the entrance and exit of Huaining Road and the main entrance of Wangjiang Road are used as the two main axes of the block in the east-west and north-south directions. The intersection of the two lines is the core of the park, and from this point, combined with other park roads, five themed commercial areas are created, namely:
A Art Center & Cultural and Creative Office
B Creative Retail Collection
C Head Dining & Trendy Entertainment
D Culture, Entertainment, Catering
E City Leisure Life
The pedestrian paths and open spaces within the venue are also equipped with a rich and colorful cultural market.
5.Design of Smart Low Carbon and Environmental Protection Park: This project will build a "Smart New Energy Parking Comprehensive Management Center" on the north side of the original site, with centralized energy storage and heat exchange stations, new energy parking centers, photovoltaic power generation matrices on the top of the main warehouses, and garbage classification and recycling stations around the site, creating Anhui's first intelligent, low-carbon, and environmentally friendly commercial park in all aspects.
V.Project Accomplishment and Operation
The new granary KUKU PARK cultural and commercial district was completed in March 2024 and officially opened on May 17 of the same year. Nowadays, the New Granary District, which has been in operation for one year, has become the most popular commercial landmark and new business card of Hefei City. Countless citizens come here to consume and play, in an endless stream.
The total land area for project renovation is 151410 square meters, and the completed building area is 126912 square meters, including 123530 square meters above ground and 3382 square meters underground. The total planned parking spaces for motor vehicles are 1200.
The innovative design of the main entrance and exit of Huaining Road is an abstract combination of grain conveyor belts and cylindrical silos, allowing people to embark on a wonderful commercial and cultural experience journey upon entering.
At the beginning of the day, with the gentle breeze blowing, the 6000 square meter city center lawn located at the core of the project is bustling with visitors. Against the backdrop of tall mechanized silos, the exquisite stage brings joy to visitors every day.
The new energy management center on the north side of the lawn is full of technology and fashion, fully reflecting the futuristic style.
The cultural high ground centered around silos, with its massive light and shadow show that combines various technological elements such as sound, light, electricity, and 3D, has become a new landmark for internet celebrities to check-in in Hefei. The tall silos have also become a beautiful urban landscape, rejuvenating and carrying the cultural core of the project.
The surrounding renovated warehouses of various sizes and shapes are full of commercial vitality. The old wall echoes the store signage, fully showcasing the collision and unity of old and new materials.
The polished rice processing workshop, as a renovated cultural office building cluster, retains the original exterior walls and injects popular fashion elements and wall paintings through a secondary interpretation of the building form, reshaping the architectural language and assisting cultural entrepreneurship.
The five large warehouses along the main street of Huaining Road are the most visually striking architectural complex in the entire project. The large-scale arched eaves suspended on the 15 meter high mountain wall have a unique shape, and the grand continuous volume reshapes the rhythm of the building skyline.
On the pedestrian pathways between the original warehouses, various markets, stalls, cartoon dolls, atmosphere props, and other colorful commercial elements are also distributed to break the original barracks style building array, enhance visual perception, and increase consumer enjoyment.
In addition, we have innovatively created several internet celebrity check-in points around the old railway line, such as the Granary Window, Granary Station, Granary Tennis, Granary Collection, etc., which have become good places for fashionable trendsetters to gather, date, and check in with internet celebrities.
VI.Project Summary
The one year old new granary is growing and continuously updating with its operators and visitors. No matter where you come from, the new granary will make you involuntarily let go of the tension and fatigue in life, without any clear goals, just feel warmth and relaxation in the lively background. Strolling through the new granary with family or pets, strolling through small shops, and watching fireworks, people are no longer just consumers, but become characters in the story.
And this is precisely where the value of the KUKU PARK Cultural and Commercial Block Renovation and Reconstruction Project lies!