As the city expands and develops, the fate of the old city faces a turnaround. In recent years, society's emphasis on historical and cultural preservation and urban renewal has led to the transformation of Bank Street, a district that carries many historical stories, back into a part of the city's development through sustainable design and renovation.
Area History
In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Shengze, Suzhou, was already a “sunrise of ten thousand silks, clothing the world” and became one of the four major silk capitals in China, and in the Republic of China, it became a center for the distribution of silk in the surrounding area. The silk trade was robust, the market was prosperous, and it was called “Little Shanghai”. The prosperity of industry and commerce stimulated the development of the financial industry. Republic of China 11 years (1922) in March, the Bank of China Jiaxing Branch in Shengze branch office, the street in front of the name of the street named Bank Street, and has been used until now.
Current Situation
Bank Street is home to many former residences of celebrities, carrying the epitome of Shengze's history at various stages. The district is known as the 72.5 alleys, with many alleys and some one-way dead-end roads. Although it does not meet the requirements of modern urban development, it has the characteristics and memories of a historical ancient city. The overall architecture is pided into celebrity residences with white walls and black tiles, traditional residences, and modern multi-storey brick-concrete buildings. Traditional residences are mostly 1-2-storey brick-wood structures. Due to their age, some are dangerous structures. The simple awnings and air-conditioning units built by residents in the alleys have aggravated the disorder of the street environment and affected the original style.
▼ 場地原貌,The existing site
Design Strategy
Despite the rapid development in recent times, there are still many old people in the area who have retained their historical memory and culture. The goal of the remodeling is to strike a balance between the aboriginal people, modern commercial activities and the dissemination of local traditional culture. While remedying illegal structures, we will preserve as many traces of the era as possible, create more public green spaces, and increase the persity of spaces and experiences, so that the neighborhood will be enhanced in terms of the overall living environment and business atmosphere.
Specific measures are pided into: a new home community at the street entrance as a commercial demonstration point in this area, together with the pocket park at the corner, to provide public communication space for community residents and visitors, to enhance the sense of well-being and community vitality. Bank Street, the main street stores facade renovation, and interior painting, before the transformation of the main street stores, in addition to the old grocery stores with a sense of age, there are also operating conditions of the small stores and part of the vacant, after the transformation of the foreign investment, aimed at injecting new commercial vitality into the old street; comprehensive environmental remediation, including the demolition of unauthorized building structures, the three lines into the ground, and other infrastructure improvements, paving, and to enhance the overall sanitation of the street.
Architecture design
Building Monolithic Design
The Home Country Community is a new building on the site, adjacent to the reconstructed Cheng Kaijia's former residence, the original site is part of the structure of the dangerous houses, after the demolition, as a new building monolithic and pocket park area. For the new building in the historical area, the design team has carefully considered the surrounding buildings and the environment, and the height is controlled in such a way that it does not affect the pedestrian's view of Cheng Kaijia's former residence, and the scope of the building base has been set back from the original demolished building, enlarging the corner of the street that was originally constricted, so that the non-motorized vehicles and pedestrians can pass through safely. The architectural style is the same as that of the neighborhood and the adjacent residence, but with a more modern massing and large glass windows to ensure that the commercial building is visible. The building has a café on the first floor and a small meeting room on the second floor, which provides a place to meet and exchange ideas for school trips to the neighborhood's residences.
As the inheritance carrier of urban local culture, the protection and regeneration of historic districts can continue the urban culture and enhance the satisfaction and happiness of the living environment. Renewal and reconstruction design of historic districts is an important content and key point of urban renewal. In the protection and renovation design of historic districts, it is necessary to follow the principle of wholeness, i.e. the renovation of historic districts should not be limited to architectural design, but should include the buildings and their surroundings, and should pay more attention to the local characteristics of culture and heritage protection. At the same time, public participation should also be emphasized, so that local residents can obtain a sense of cultural identity, happiness and sense of belonging. In conjunction with the restoration and opening of Cheng Kaijia's former residence, simultaneous block improvement and commercial guidance should be carried out, and functional business models and cultural and tourism experiences should be implanted in the main streets, so as to lead the way for the gradual development of the protection and inheritance of historic districts and their revitalization and utilization, and to form a demonstration effect.