The building was constructed in 1901 by The China Merchants Steam Navigation Company which was run by the Qing Dynasty’s Ministry of Trade. The government had purchased the bankrupt American Russell & Co. in the 1870s, and subsequently built this building on the site of their riverfront garden. Related to such important historical figures as Premier Li Hongzhang, Sheng Xuanhuai, etc. in China’s self-strengthening movement in the late 19 th and early 20th Century, the China Merchants Steam Navigation Building served an important role on the Bund of Shanghai. The building thus stands as one of China’s most symbolic and memorable examples of the nation’s early modernization process.
　　
The China Merchants’Steam Navigation Building appears fine and delicate, and is the Bund’s unique remaining example of neo-Classical external-corridor architecture of late Victorian era. Furthermore, it is one of two examples of red-brick construction along the Bund’s row of grey buildings (the other being the South Building of the Peace Hotel). Although this building was built on the Bund of Shanghai, it maintains the colonial style of the 19th Century suited to Southeast Asia’s hotter and more humid climate. In the early years of the 20th Century when Bund property was quite dear, such architecture was a great extravagance. If it had subsequently been in the hands of a private company, the building would have more than likely been much heightened over the years. The English company Morrison was the original architecture firm for the design of this building. The main three-storey structure is made of brick, stone, timber and steel, enclosing a space of 1460 square metres. The structure is divided into five bays, and supported by eight steel columns and masonry periphery walls. The original floors were of post-and-beam wooden construction. The external perspective reveals three-tiered, neo-Classical style with sloping roofs, with the Eastern Bund-facing external-corridor with Corinthian and Tuscan columns in the second and third floor, and a connecting structure off the South-western corner entirely of brick and timber. The Eastern facade flanking wings have English Classical Renaissance-styled gables. Granite stone is primarily used in the Eastern fa?ade for the base, as well as the Chinese traditional greenish slate for the eaves and roofs. The Western face is take up by stairway space, and connects to the Gothic-styled No. 17 Fuzhou Rd, proving their original relationship.

However over the past 100 years this building has been turned into a bad condition. All the wing gables and sloping roof sections on the Eastern elevation were removed, the neo-Classical-columned gallery was enclosed with industrial-styled metal-framed glass windows, bricks were covered with cement, the interiors were filled with every manner of dropped ceilings, added floors, etc. The only original elements, which told of the building’s past, were the wooden stairways and several doors and windows. Particularly when comparing the structure with the adjacent Pudong Development Bank and the Bank of Bangkok buildings, the Building was not even been registered as Municipal Outstanding Historic Architecture, let alone rise to the National Important Cultural Protection status level implied by its Bund location. Thus the all-important part of the task was the restoration of the external views to their original state and improvement of the interior.

In autumn 2001, at the time the Chang Qing Studio began to do the rehabilitation work, there was none original drawings and documents of this building available. They were able to locate some original images in the archives as well as some architectural detail measurements however. Using this material as a base, from concept to construction, from broad sketches to installation diagrams, and from restoration of the external elevations to improvement of the interior spaces, they spent more than two years in rehabilitation design and construction cooperation efforts.

Photo taken on May 19, 2014 shows the buiding which now is SHIATZY CHEN Shanghai flagship store.

Restoration of the External Elevations
　　
1. Restoration Design
In the spirit of the laws of preservation, having adequate basis and prerequisites, it is a feasible and reasonable method to restore the original external elevations by restoring damaged sections for cultural buildings still being used throughout the restoration period. As a strategy for the restoration, they removed all of the added steel windows and extra walls in the verandas, opening them up to their original state. The next task was the removal of cement and plaster from the external walls in order to reveal the red bricks below. Then, using a specialist method of wall restoration from Germany, they restored each brick, each mortar seam, and each door and window seam. They renovated each entryway and the baseboards on each storey, as well as starting the interior redecoration. Finally the three-level eastern external elevation was completed, and the north and south gables were restored. Throughout the design process they deliberated over material selection and construction methods by analysis of the old photos, other historical materials and our own meticulous measurements of the structure. The rehabilitation construction, which was a lot more complicated and time consumptive than ordinary projects, took more than eighteen months.
　　
2、Repair of the Externally Exposed Bricks
One traditional feature of this English neo-Classical building is its exposed brick exterior, including brick arches around windows and doors, and brilliantly detailed brick base lines. Thus brick repair was a key element to our restoration efforts. This was a large challenge as the later-added mortar layer on them was still firmly stuck on in places. Removing all the cement would damage the brick faces. Therefore they invited in the Baowu Architecture Renovations Company, which had formerly participated in the Xintiandi renovations using special brick restoration method from the German Remmers Company. Cement covering the north and east exposures measured 2.5 centimetres thick, making the surfaces of all original exposed brick sections appear flat. Furthermore, the brick faces, which had not been covered, had experienced heavy weathering. The precise way to fix this problem would be cleaning the external surface using Remmers FSS300, and then painting over a layer with Remmers FSS0720. Afterwards, repair any cracks or other spots in the bricks with Remmers FRM0757, fill in the mortar lines to a uniform from-surface-depth of 4mm and paint the entire surface with protective coating Remmers FAS0640. Then there were some other areas which needed special attention due to weathering, rotting and mildew. Because the building’s brick walls were so visible it was reasonable to use the best way of repairing possible, not just doing what is often done; i.e. just covering them with paint. Now the bricks look exactly like old bricks, and the building thus meets the essential requirements of a recognised protected building.

3、Restoration of the Gabled Roofs
The largest structural problem in this project was restoring the neo-Classical gables and the slanted roofline. This part of the restoration was very difficult because not only were there only two photos of their original state, but also any detail in the photos was hard to discern. Our first step was to reconstruct a rough sketch of the triangle gable end walls and match them precisely with the old drawings and images they had. Then they researched a large amount of English neo-Classical cartouche designs in order to better understand the gable walls’core floral design style. After completing initial sketches of these designs they created a 1:2 scale cement model. Bringing our model to the sight they could see if the style, image scattering, depth and surface-skeletal relationship matched the old images. Only then could they begin the actual stone carving of this detailed part of the building. They also restored the carved stone eaves under the gables. When restoring the slanted roofs they considered the pitch, texture and colour of the material (greenish slate). As the interior fireplaces had been removed long ago, they didn’t attempt restoration of the chimneys.

Interior Improvement

1、Strategy
After analysis of the interior space after numerous reconfigurations over the years, they found that the current state of the interior space couldn’t meet the need of current users. Thus they concentrated our efforts on clearing out anything that clearly did not belong and designing appropriate restorations views of the original rooms. It will take more careful consideration to show which interior sections should be restored and which should be re-designed for more logical and efficient space utilization.
　　
2、Design
The structure of this building before rehabilitation was as following state: external walls, interior columns (8X17cm-diametre steel columns), storeys of 4 to 5 metres high and floors that held original and added walls and dividers. There were many design elements that proved the 19th Century origins of the building, such as doors and windows with half-circle, oval and flat archways, wooden door and window framing and brass door and window detailing. The wooden stairways did not seem sensible, as well as being safety time bombs. However their carved-column wooden banisters could give one a historical impression. After consulting with a Shanghai municipal building committee safety structure specialist, they eliminated the building’s serious structural load-bearing problems. This was a precondition of any design for the utilisation of the interior.
　　
　　1) Structural Strengthening: Original structural elements had deteriorated, including the complete loss of the slanted roof system. Therefore they repaired what original parts they could whilst maintaining applicable spatial relationships, and restored the roof. They repaired original column bases and beams in the main building, as well as adding 100 solid post bases. Structural elements in the side buildings were relatively good, so they only touched up several of the wooden beams and floors. They used steel-reinforced concrete to strengthen the eight internal columns.
　　
　　2）Internal Space Sections:
　　Foyer: They created an externally square and internally round entryway out of the original long and narrow entry corridor. They used a simple and bright neo-Classical style for this section, including round-topped columns which resembled original ones in the building and kept the same design and proportions as those outside the building. They used the space between the northwest side of our building and No. 17 Fuzhou Rd (which was already affiliated with the China Merchants’Group) to make a small vestibule, using the original external wall as the new and interesting interior wall of the space.
　　
　　Stairwell: According to the original designs they restored the wooden stairs, including the critical landing sections with their rounded brick windows. They also added a bright glass ceiling to the stairwell.
　　
　　Corridors and Office Space: They restored the original space arrangement of each floor in which the west corridor became the connection between entryways, stairwell and rooms of the building, and used the main rooms’historical style as a guide for the stairways and traffic areas. They added functional office facilities and with stepped glass ceilings. Finally they restored the colour of all windows and doors to deep shade of maroon.
　　
　　Roof Clubhouse: Through the restoration of gable walls and slanted roofline they added a room that could be used as a clubhouse. Opening on to a roofless balcony on its eastern side, this space has one of the most beautiful views on the Bund. The stepped illuminant ceiling is detailed with slanted edges and lines giving it a traditional honour, and the slanted exposed beams on the external wall give it a neo-classical effect.

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