Renovation of the ForD warehouse | say architects

ForD International is a comprehensive home service company that integrates overall design and imported soft furnishings. It is also currently a provider of imported soft furnishings and home products for many luxury brands worldwide. In ForD's own home storage warehouse, the owner hopes to have a building site that matches their brand image, thus the ForD warehouse renovation project was born.

The factory is located in the Xiaoshan Industrial Zone of Hangzhou, surrounded by mostly small and medium-sized factories, creating a strong industrial atmosphere. The building was originally composed of four old office buildings and an electronic workshop. This renovation project will transform it into ForD's furniture warehouse and exhibition hall. Say hopes to transform this factory into a vibrant urban node in the area, eliminating the monotonous image of industrial buildings in the past.

Irregularity within regularity

The total construction area of the factory is approximately 17,000 square meters, and the four original buildings were divided into exhibition halls, offices, and warehouses according to their functions. During the renovation process, Say preserved the main structure of the original building and focused on constructing a new facade system. The use of materials to cover the original dimensions implies the continuation of the building in the time dimension.

The designer used a more planar language to create a "wrapper" for the facade, and the simple and clear visual effect conveys the efficiency and speed of the design. Considering both the aesthetic and material durability of the facade, aluminum-magnesium-manganese metal panels became the key material for the external facade renovation of the building.

Through the use of aluminum-magnesium-manganese panels, the direct sunlight coming in through the original windows can be appropriately blocked, which provides reasonable protection for the furniture in the showroom.

On the south facade of the exhibition building, Say tried a parametric approach to enrich the new facade grid system. A touch of the iconic yellow of Fudi gradually fades from one end to the other in an irregular grid arrangement within the rules, and 16 colors are interpreted on the same facade with their own unique hues.

The color scheme of the park also echoes the iconic yellow color of the building facade. The ground of the factory area has been designed with corresponding guidance based on the vehicle flow lines for goods transportation and functional zoning. The pattern of the parking area is also integrated with the pixelated concept of the building facade.

Greenery grown from the building

To complement the building facade, low and bushy floral landscapes were added around the building. The greenery extends from the ground without obstructing the view of the facade, while the existing trees on the site were preserved, making the plants and the building facade complement each other perfectly.

On the south side of the showroom building, there is an outdoor seating area for customers visiting the showroom, which also serves as the main stopping point. Despite the strong industrial atmosphere, one can also feel the vitality of the greenery.

Minimalist warehouse space

The exhibition building consists of three floors. The first floor mainly includes exhibition areas, photography areas, and a water bar. The second floor is dedicated to lighting and large furniture displays, while the third floor is for showcasing seating furniture. The overall space is predominantly white, with a focus on furniture displays. Natural light from the high windows on the north side creates a subtle effect when combined with the furniture displays.

The warehouse follows the original building structure and considers the scale of handling goods based on the position of columns. Each span of columns is used as a shelf area, labeled with numbers for easy identification, and the contrast between yellow and black helps people quickly recognize the shelf numbers, facilitating zoning management.