nong studio renovates a 120 year-old granary alongside suzhou river in shanghai

nong studio based in shanghai and milan has found a nice place for the new office in china. an old abandoned granary by the suzhou river, shanghai turns into a fancy modern working space with the studio’s design using subtle materials like marble and brass, yet preserving the historical wooden treasures of the building. 

the first thing the visitors see is the entrance area which is intentionally darkened. the totally black space brings about a ‘sense of distance’ and serves as a mediator between the street and the office. however, as the electronic sliding door gradually opens, guests will be greeted by the bright and open office with a floor height of 4.5m. the exposed hundred-year pre-existing wooden structure and wooden floor retained in the space allow visitors to encounter history — nong studio reinforced them.

in addition to the hundred-year-old wooden structure, modern materials such as brass, glass, marble and stainless steel are applied realizing an inter-dialogue between history and modernity. the architects didn’t organize the space according to privacy or efficiency level which is common in traditional office design. instead, they arranged the space based on interaction possibility. the working area is in the middle surrounded by the auxiliary material space, audience space, golden bookshelf, and discussion area, thus being an information processing hub increasing the possibility of interaction.

the golden bookshelf is the space’s highlight that you definitely notice after entering the space. its design concept sources from the chinese saying, ‘within books, one can find houses of gold’. it displays books from all over the world related to design and art, antiques, toys, works, and lego models brought back by the studio’s founder chasing wang from more than fifty countries.

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: maria erman | designboom