First Public Library Opened in Beijing ------ an Age-old Building Glowing with a New Life from Redesign by UCD’s Creation Center

Through re-creation, planning and reconstruction for more than four years, the 70-plus-year-old Red House cinema was turned on the afternoon of April 23rd into a new-type public cultural service venue —— “Internet+” Red House Public Library, the first of its kind in China. On that day, the brand-new library began its collection of books and meanwhile opened for citizens to subscribe for personal experience.

Apart from new books and the reading concept, the extra-large venue for books and reading that has been newly designed and reconstructed from a cinema has presented a sense of space with strong visual effect for visitors. Walking inside, one can feel flowing and changing architectural buildups, which tally with the multi-level reading demands in the building.

Redesigned and reconstructed by UCD’s Urban-Rural Planning and Architectural Creation Center (Creation Center for short), the library provides citizens with a public reading space with brand-new concepts and adds aesthetic characteristics to the neighborhood through the protection of the historical block of the age-old urban area. The successful reconstruction demonstrates the strengths of UCD’s Creation Center in revamping old urban areas as well as its philosophy and original will to enhance the overall urban image through design.

Past and Present Red House

After site survey, architects and designers decided to make full use of the original building and space structure of the antique cinema. Built in 1930s, the Red House had been originally a sports club before it was turned into a cinema in 1945. In 1956, when joint state-private ownership was practiced, the Red House became an important cultural venue of Xicheng District of Beijing. In 2012, damage and potential safety hazards brought film shows offered by this time-honored cinema of 70-odd years to a halt.

For many Beijing natives, the Red House cinema once remained a joyous memory of culture. How to reconstruct the building to make it fresh with a new vitality was placed on the agenda of the Xicheng District Culture Committee of Beijing. To carry out the spirit of the important remarks delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping on February 24, 2014 when he had an inspection tour in Beijing, enliven idle cultural assets and extend the cultural memories of the city, the Xicheng District began to make plans in 2014 for the renovation and upgrading of the Red House.

As was proposed by Sun Jinsong, Director of the Xicheng District Culture Committee, the spatial features of the original building were to be used for the renovation of the building into a latest-model library blending fine traditions with innovative ideas. With its public space provided by the government and social institutions invited to undertake its operation, the library was designed by an innovation-oriented architectural design team to re-enter private books scattered in hands of the common people into public circulation to activate the humanistic value hidden behind the books and to let the Red House cut a fine figure and be fresh with cultural vitality once again.

The public library upholding the core ideology of “public collection for shared reading” has been the first of its kind throughout the country, which is of vital importance to promoting nationwide reading, improving public culture services and fostering spiritual cultures. The library carries forward the Chinese traditional book collection culture and, at the same time, it absorbs the most advanced innovation factors from the“shared economy”. Keeping abreast with the development of the times and catering to the people’s need for a better cultural life, the library has been forged into a latest-model public cultural service venue with “Internet+” factors.

Soon after the opening of the book collection mode, the library will come into trial operation. If the operation mode is recognized by the general public, said related leaders of the Xicheng District Culture Committee, then Xicheng District will popularize it and make it duplicable at the right time to enable such an operation mode to develop from conception to formation and even to expansion.

To ensure that the philosophy of the library can be reflected completely in the building, and that the initially determined functions, such as “major book collection area”, “leisure reading area”, “backstage research area” and “oral history production studio”, can be perfectly realized, architects of UCD’s Urban-Rural Planning and Architectural Creation Center have given full play to their experience and wisdom to turn the age-old cinema into a resplendent contemporary public space.

Project Information：

Designer：Urban-Rural Planning and Architectural Creation Center of UCD

Project Title：Design Scheme for the Reconstruction of the Beijing Red House Cinema into a Library

Project Address：Xicheng District of Beijing

Project Manager：Cheng Yan

Members of the Design Team：Huo Guang, Zhang Zhige, Wang Dongchun, Feng Qilu, Li Tianyu, Yuan Yaqi, Wang Naiyin, Liu Yu, etc.

Floorage：1500 square meters

Construction Unit：Henan Yong Yang Construction Co., Ltd.

Year of Completion：2018