Renovation of China Resources Building | Ronald Lu & Partners

The China Resources Building (CRB) was used to be an icon of 1980s. To cope with the growth of commercial activities in North Wanchai and for the advancement of the corporate identity, the owner made decision for an evitable move. Ronald Lu & Partners took this challenging renovation of China Resources Building to show that greening an existing office building is technically feasible and cost effective. Most importantly, this refurbishment work has proven its success in preserving an architectural icon in the urban fabric while bringing her up to 21st century standards of sustainable design and upgrading the Cooperate identity at the same time. To make a statement for the identity of the building, the refurbishment of the building envelop aimed to restructure the building skin as an entity. By means of simple and neat vertical features arranged in a rhythmical pattern throughout the building, the tower and the podium become unified. The integration of energy saving and environmental friendly LED lighting scheme transforms the building appearance and enhances the building presence at night time while maintaining the simplicity of the architectural design during the day. The re-planning of the podium has introduced landscaped courtyards for the enjoyment of both the building users and the public by removing and restructuring the building mass at the podium floors. The micro-climate in terms of cross natural ventilation, lighting and building permeability for the building itself and the neighbhourhood are significantly enhanced. The public walkways which were used to be covered by concrete structure have been transformed to weather protected passages with glazed canopies and windscreens for a more pleasant moving space. Furthermore, part of the existing public walkways at G/F floor and podium floor are integrated with the podium lobbies in order to enhance the convenience of pedestrian circulation. CRB is the first pre-certified renovation project to achieve LEED Core & Shell Gold Rating in Hong Kong. Not only will the greener CRB reduce cost and energy consumption, the improved air quality provides a better interior environment for its users. The tower’s original skin of white mosaic tiles is being dressed up by a new curtain will to reduce solar gain. Only 5% of solar energy will be transmitted into the interior and lead to a reduced cooling load for improved energy efficiency. Materials of the new curtain wall are regionally manufactured thus minimizing the carbon footprint resulting from their transportation. At the same time, the project reused 95% of its existing structural walls, floors and roofs to extend the life cycle of the building stock. It has also been awarded with the Perspective Awards, American Institute of Architects and “the most beautiful commercial property in China” in 2013 with its distinctive and brilliant sustainable design.