CreativeHunt - Project Shanghai: 796 Huaihai Lu

Nicolas Peden

Nick is that Laowai inappropriately mashing through Shanghai traffic on his fixed gear. He even sometimes wears a stolen pair of fake, white Ray Ban Wayfarers, and yes, tight jeans and hightop sneakers. He's that guy. Buy him a beer the next time you meet him. Or else.

/// Paper Tiger

February 3, 2012

/// Here be dragons

January 18, 2012

/// Chen Man: Stylized Icon

January 11, 2012

/// Inspired Interiors: Mary Ching's new digs

December 16, 2011

(796 Huaihai Lu, before onset of renovations; Photo Credit: Richemont Group)
"Project Shanghai:" is a regular feature article on CreativeHunt, featuring interesting architecture or renovation projects around Shanghai.

To inaugurate the "Project Shanghai:" column, we're taking a look at one of the more high-profile renovation projects in Shanghai in 2008 -- a city of basically nothing but high-profile renovation projects -- 796 Huaihai Lu.

The Richemont Group -- Switzerland's mega luxury goods company responsible for the brands Cartier, Piaget, Vacheron Constantin, Montblanc, Alfred Dunhill, and Shanghai Tang -- held an international architecture/design competition for the honor of leading the renovation of the twin villas at 796 Huaihai. Shanghai-based Italian architecture firm Kokaistudios won, and broke ground early 2008.

Some history: 90 years ago, back in Shanghai's "heyday", when Huaihai Lu was still Avenue Joffre -- a Mr. Jiang Bing Sheng amassed a fortune in the real estate market. To flaunt some wealth, he had a villa built on the illustrious avenue. Mr Jiang's fortune continued to grow, thus naturally he commissioned a twin villa be built. These adjacent structures came to epitomize the oft-recollected "exuberance of Old Shanghai."

(796 Huaihai, after the renovations; Photo Credit: Richemont Group)
Fast forward through a century of social, political, and economic fluctuations, a recommissioning as the "Beijing Cinema", and the charm of this neo-classical mansion faded. The black and white, chromatic floors were covered in dust and rubbish, walls rotted, and the massive oak stairs lost their varnish.

(Demolition of rotted structures on north side of the site; Photo Credit: Richemont Group)

(Rotting structures before renovation; Photo Credit: Richemont Group)

With Shanghai's new-found propensity to attract international wealth, a new chapter is being written for 796 Huaihai Lu. The Richemont Group, eager to sell British apparel and put Swiss-made watches on the wrists of China's elite, has moved in and set up shop. 796 Huahai Lu is now home to four occupants: the private KEE Club, Alfred Dunhill, watchmaker Vacheron Constantin, and the ShanghART gallery.

The site is a heritage building and for the designers at Kokaistudios (their Shanghai credits include the Sin nightclub, Lounge18, and the Highstreet Loft), the project was largely a restorative one. 796 has its original stained-glass windows, wooden floors, ceilings, and staircases, and even some original decorations.

The renovation of 796 Huahai is emblematic of several other villa renovations in Shanghai -- it shares the aesthetic impulse to represent the original architecture in the finish product -- the old in the new.

Here's what it looked like then and now. Scroll down to the bottom for the project credits.