In many ways this is the dream project with the client coming to AIM with an amazing site comprising four large and two small tanks, and an open mind. The functional aspect of the brief required the site house a restaurant and clothing store, but the client was open to how the remainder was used and has embraced AIM’s suggestion of a cultural space and play area. Additionally, the Changzhou Government was in the process of transforming the surrounding land into a park, and AIM have added to this with textural ‘spots’ similar in scale to the tanks and a large playground web.

Located on the Yangtze River just north of Shanghai, and once entirely industrial, Changzhou, is a city changing the way it is perceived through architecture. Facilitating this change are The Changzhou Museum by CROX; The Cultural Centre by gmp Architekten; and the ethereal lotus forms of the Public Architecture Park by studio505. AIM Architecture is comfortably at home within this milieu of architectural excellence and their design for Cotton Park repositions these disused tanks as a quietly brilliant prioritisation of quality over quantity, to bring this urban space to life.

The industrial site was long disused and each of the tanks was rusted and pocked with holes. But herein lies the charm, “We threw aside a hatch and forced ourselves into one of these tanks. At that time, the roof was still closed, but it had a couple of air holes, and through these holes you could see small beams of light coming into the silo and we had this super impressive experience of the beautiful dome-like structures” says AIM Architecture Principal Vincent de Graaf. “At that moment we realised that the essence of the project lay in preserving the tank walls and harnessing the ethereal lighting from above” says AIM Architecture Design Principal Wendy Saunders. The nature of deterioration was also something de Graff and Saunders, saw as a positive to be carried forward into the final design, “When you get in them, they are completely rusty, they’ve obviously been abandoned for a long time,” says de Graaf.

To this end the giant steel tanks have been rejuvenated with a light touch that speaks to the industrial nature and primary materials of the region. “We looked for an extra material to insulate the silos, and to build some new structures. We didn’t want to do the new with steel, because that steel wouldn’t be as powerful as the aged and beautiful steel that you have,” says de Graaf. While researching the project an historic photograph showing steel barges carrying bricks on the adjacent canal gave inspiration, “The idea of bricks being transported on steel to make new things, felt like a cooperation of materials with a link to the site, and gave us a second material which is unifying” says de Graaf. It is also beautiful with the rose pink of the brick creating a gentle counterpoint to the rusted interior of each space.

Saunders and de Graaf’s first encounter of having to climb into the tanks through a hatch, raised the foundational question of “how do we get in?” The basic answer was that every tank be given a door, but this expanded as thoughts around community and connectivity came into play. “We quite quickly decided that a path straight through the middle would give you the most interesting experience because it makes you walk from a restaurant into a cultural space, into a retail space, and then back again into the park” says de Graaf of the double height apertures that have been cut to form a view straight through the four main tanks, “We have an analogy of when you shoot an arrow through a couple of balloons, one after each other. And that would be this magical journey straight to the middle of these different characteristics of these tanks” he says.

The steel from the cut doorways has been used to form the roof of the glass passageways connecting the tanks. Realised as double-height structures with only the lower portion contained, the upper structure gives a balance of scale when viewed externally, while creating a visual connection internally from both ground and upper floors.

Suggested: The story of AIM Architecture

The brickwork itself is simple with no embellishment and speaks directly to the architects’ desire to retain the sense of the tanks. As such, the floors are explored in the round with central points lined up with open apertures above. These open oculi are essential to continuing the feeling of wonder the architects first experienced, and in the cultural space it is open to the elements with gravel filling the central floor void. For the spaces that require insulation, the restaurant and store, glass has been introduced, “When you start insulating these tanks, they tend to look like a normal building on the inside, and we don’t feel the tank anymore” says de Graaf. Instead glass supported by a large steel structure amplifies the nature of the tank as de Graaf explains, “The glass allows you to see the outer structure and play with the space between the glass and the steel. It’s creating a beautiful, sustainable story where natural ventilation can be used.”

In the restaurant the glass roof is surrounded by a collar of rich red plaster to give the effect of a dome. The retail tank has taken the idea further with an entire interior realised as a glass-house sitting within the walls of the tank. In this space, the bricks work towards a central raised podium seat surrounding a leafy tree that forms a visual stop to the through view. 

An aspect of the project that comes to light with use is the engagement with community. “Our client recognised that rather than going to Shanghai or Beijing, he could use his resources to do something that is for the community, and at the same time, the whole family,” says de Graaf, who adds “I’m very pleased that the neighbourhood’s adopting the park and playing in the buildings. That it is anchoring these buildings inside the park and doing something for the community, while still a commercial project, it is something that that I find very fulfilling.”

Transforming a disused space into a lively and rich space for the community defines architecture at its best. The addition of the cultural space that is awe inspiring in its simplicity and material honesty is inspired, as is the client that said yes to this elegant engagement with community.

Photography
Dirk Weiblen

Authentic Immersive Matters (AIM)
aim-architecture.com

Next up: Studio Lotus and contemporary Kolkata hotel design