Former power plant's new lease on life as cultural park

With its first phase opened to the public on May 30, No 75 Jianguo Road Digital Art Industrial Park is a shining example of a transitioned industrial heritage site.

Situated at the core area of Beijing's central business district, the park built on the premises of the Beijing Thermal Power Plant has become a popular place.

One of the 156 key projects initiated during the First Five-Year Plan (1953-57), the thermal power plant was also the first high-temperature and high-pressure cogeneration enterprise established in Beijing after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, contributing much to the development of the city.

Since it was put into operation in 1958, the plant generated a total of 122.9 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and provided 607.85 million gigajoules of heat. It shut down its two coal-fired power systems and ceased to supply heat and power in March 2015, in a bid to align its growth path with the city's plan for energy structure optimization.

After being decommissioned, how to make use of the 188,000-square-meter former premises, which is owned by GD Power Development, a subsidiary of CHN Energy Investment Group, was discussed by its management.

It is now positioned as a comprehensive cultural park derived from the former industrial site, featuring a combination of industrial heritage, visual arts, digital creativity and cultural consumption.

The park transformation plan is divided into three phases. The first phase project covers an area of approximately 18,000 sq m and includes 15 buildings.

To date, more than 20 companies have settled in the first phase of the park, especially those in the field of digital cultural and creative consumption, where a group of leading companies represented by China Digital Culture Group have gathered.

When visitors stroll around the park, they will witness its industrial heritage everywhere. Water and steam pipes of varying sizes hang overhead, connecting the factories, facilities and equipment, collectively recounting the busy and glorious past of the old power plant.

"The park transformation will maximize utilization and minimize intervention, allowing people to feel the authentic industrial environment when they come to the old plant area," said Mei Deqi, a company executive.

More spaces have been given a new lease on life. For instance, a former chemical laboratory building has been transformed into a cafe, attracting people who seek tranquillity amid the hustle and bustle. Across from the cafe, a giant water tank more than 10 meters high and with spiral stairs winding around its outside has been turned into a commercial space.

On the south flank of the park, adjacent to Jianguo Road, stands a massive industrial complex display, with the original turbine workshop, chimney and boiler as the core of the main factory building. In the future, this vast space will be used for digital performing arts exhibitions and creation.

The power plant is being transformed into an open and vibrant park, providing not only office space for businesses but serving as an interactive, culturally experiential and trendy consumer destination for nearby residents.

The park plans to create six themed squares in the future. Furthermore, a "vitality axis" running north to south will be established at the center of the park, using the utility corridors as pedestrian walkways and adding rooftop gardens to connect different functional clusters.

In the north of the park stand six blue cylindrical coal silos side by side. Each stands more than 40 meters high and has a capacity of more than 10,000 metric tons. Beside the silos, the railway for coal transportation has long been dormant.

Looking west, along the railway tracks stand the modern skyscrapers of the CBD. Juxtaposed with the giant facilities of the old power plant, it creates a unique urban landscape.

There is a development plan for this area, integrating the sites, railways, sporadic urban land and industrial facilities and equipment with increased green coverage and public recreational facilities, Mei said.

He added that by incorporating modern digital art, it aims to create an open, low-carbon, fashionable and healthy lifestyle park for local residents, providing a distinctive leisure and consumption space.