Wuzhen Rural Brewery Renovation Project

The Wuzhen Rural Brewery Renovation Project, located on the west side of the river in Beizha Town, Wuzhen, Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, is a quintessential example of industrial heritage in the Jiangnan water town region. Encircled by water on three sides and abutting aged village residences on the fourth, the site comprises approximately 25,400 square meters of derelict factory buildings, which the government aims to transform into a creative industry park focusing primarily on theatrical production and performance.

Addressing the transformation of industrial heritage is a critical issue in China's urban development and evolution. Confronting the myriad historical shifts that the factory area and surrounding community have undergone since its decline, the true challenge lies in authentically and comprehensively interpreting the value of this industrial heritage.

The exposed red brick, a primary exterior material of the original factory buildings, embodies the austere and restrained aesthetic of industrial architecture of that era and was a readily available basic building material in local towns. At the outset of the design, key industrial elements such as trusses, chimneys, and sections of the external red brick walls were preserved. Building upon these, the design employs meticulous "mending techniques" for judicious alterations. The retained red brick walls are fixed with equidistantly spaced metal screws to an indoor supporting framework, and newly added sections of wall use recycled bricks from the site. By employing various techniques like exposing cut surfaces, alternating masonry patterns, and surface wrapping, the design extends the aesthetic trajectory of the original industrial architecture. It crafts a composite industrial heritage complex that harmoniously integrates with the regional characteristics of the Jiangnan water towns, thereby achieving the reuse of industrial heritage resources. This endeavor also delves into the site's historical memory and considers social and economic benefits, exploring how to create aesthetically superior industrial buildings using recyclable materials under cost-effective constraints, thus facilitating the legacy and renewal of industrial wastelands.