Yongping Warehouse Renovation: Huadi Adaptive Reuse

Repurposing Grain Warehouses on the Huadi River

On a site stretching along the Huadi River in Foshan, China, a group of old grain warehouses has been transformed into a new Projects based on adaptive reuse. The project, known as the Yongping Warehouse Renovation, was completed in 2025 by Atelier cnS as a case study in converting abandoned industrial buildings into a new function. The core idea was to work with Buildings that had lost their original purpose without radically altering their overall character.

Urban Transformation Context in Dali Town

The site is located in Dali Town within Nanhai District, an area historically defined by its industrial character linked to the Pearl River Delta. Over time, the district has begun shifting toward a more publicly oriented environment. Within this context, the warehouses stood along the riverfront without a clear function. As a result, the project emerged as part of a process of reintegrating these Architecture into the urban fabric rather than demolishing or replacing them.

Vertical Organization and Gradation of Visual Experience

Due to the limited site area, part of the public program was relocated upward through the creation of a rooftop garden above the commercial spaces on the ground floor. Instead of closing off the gaps between the warehouse volumes, they were preserved and expanded to function as internal passages. This arrangement allows movement through the Construction to gradually reveal fragments of the river before reaching the roof, where the view opens up completely. The result is a visual experience based on a gradual transition between levels rather than an immediate exposure.

Close-up of a translucent hexagonal canopy structure on the rooftop of Yongping Warehouse with modern concrete seating and greenery. — The lightweight hexagonal domes provide shaded areas for rest while maintaining a visual connection with the sky.

Rooftop Dome Canopies

The canopies appear as an element covering the roofline through a series of transparent dome structures built from hexagonal frames. These elements are arranged across the roof in a sequential pattern resembling lightweight formations. Visually, these domes diffuse light and create soft shadows without obstructing the view of the river. At the same time, they provide multiple zones for seating, movement, and activities without enclosing or isolating the space, remaining subtly integrated within it.

Shaping the Roof as an Extension of Structural Memory

The roof is designed as a composition of slopes, stepped surfaces, and usable areas, reflecting the inclination of the original warehouse roofs. This configuration is not presented as a separate element but as a continuation of the existing Building Materials characteristics. As a result, the intervention becomes part of reading the previous structure rather than an independent addition. In this way, the trace of the original building is preserved within the new composition, while simultaneously engaging it in a direct relationship with the introduced functions.

Night view of the rooftop pavilion at Yongping Warehouse renovation project featuring illuminated domes and a slate-tiled pitched roof. — At night, the translucent domes transform into glowing lanterns, redefining the waterfront’s industrial skyline.

Interior view under the hexagonal dome at Yongping Warehouse rooftop park during sunset with people relaxing. — The rooftop park functions as a “city living room,” inviting the community to engage with the riverfront.

Waterfront facade of Yongping Warehouse in Foshan showing the original brick walls and the new zigzag roofline with glass sections. — The riverside facade maintains the industrial rhythm of the original granaries, updated with contemporary glazing.

Sequence of translucent hexagonal domes along the Huadi River at the Yongping Warehouse rooftop. — A series of repetitive hexagonal structures creates a lightweight “second skin” over the old warehouse roofs.

Reuse and the Relationship Between the Existing Building and the New Intervention

The Yongping project demonstrates a balanced approach to adaptive reuse of industrial buildings, where the new Design does not dominate the original structure, but instead allows the old building to remain present as a defining element of the overall composition. The warehouses continue to play a fundamental role in shaping rhythm and circulation paths, while also contributing to the project’s visual language. In this way, the building is not treated as a neutral backdrop, but as an active framework that can be perceived without requiring an explicit reading of its history.

The Evolution of Atelier cnS’s Approach to Adaptive Reuse

This project sits within a broader developmental trajectory in the work of Atelier cnS, which has previously explored concepts related to public movement across rooftops and the reactivation of existing voids. Among these earlier works is the White House Guesthouse project, which introduced an early exploration of this direction. Within this context, the Yongping project appears as a more mature stage, where the intervention is characterized by greater precision and deeper integration with the surrounding Cities fabric, without a clear separation between the old and the new. For further Research on adaptive reuse strategies, and to stay updated with the latest Architectural News, you can explore the Archive for more case studies and discussions on similar transformations.

Top-down aerial view of the geometric rooftop playground at Yongping Warehouse with orange play surfaces and gray stairs. — The rooftop design utilizes geometric patterns and levels to create diverse zones for play and relaxation.

Children playing on the climbing slopes of the Yongping Warehouse rooftop under the large hexagonal canopy. — Active public participation is at the heart of the Yongping renovation, turning industry into play.

Site Scale and the Role of Public Use

The project spans an area of 4,311 square meters and fundamentally raises a question that extends beyond the boundaries of direct architectural intervention. Converting a renovated commercial building into an accessible rooftop public park reflects a shift in the building’s function within a context where the industrial character of the district is gradually fading. Within this framework, the space is not presented as a private or enclosed element, but as part of the public realm connected to the surrounding neighborhood.

The Relationship Between Architecture and Public Visibility

The architectural condition here does not treat the building as a mass that needs to assert itself visually, but rather as an element performing a specific function within a changing environment. The project demonstrates a level of restraint in its presence, where the organizational idea remains more prominent than direct formal expression. At the same time, public use remains the dominant factor in shaping the spatial experience. This approach aligns with contemporary Interior Design principles that prioritize user experience over pure form, and invites Discussion within the architectural community about the role of public accessibility.

A Final Reading of the Overall Form

The architectural composition concludes with a roof carrying a series of transparent domes, functioning as a light covering layer over the landscape. From a distance, this extension appears as a visual element connected to the river without overpowering the original structure. In this way, the project emerges as a condition that combines adaptive reuse with a quiet integration into its surrounding context.

Public gathering and children's slide at the Yongping Warehouse rooftop park under a steel hexagonal structure. — Strategic vertical movement, including slides and stairs, connects different levels of the rooftop experience.

Low-angle exterior shot of Yongping Warehouse renovation featuring original brick walls, modern glass gables, and lightweight hexagonal domes. — Modern glass additions and geometric domes contrast with the weathered texture of the original brick granaries.

High-angle view of Yongping Warehouse renovation showing the relationship between the old granary roofs and the new elevated park. — The project balances industrial heritage with modern urban needs through adaptive reuse.

View from under a hexagonal dome at Yongping Warehouse rooftop park, showing landscaped stairs, lush greenery, and a distant city skyline. — The rooftop garden blends architectural structures with intensive landscaping, offering a framed view of Foshan’s urban development.

✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight

Along the Huadi River corridor in Foshan, the Yongping Warehouse Renovation project functions less as an independent architectural decision and more as an urban recalibration of underutilized industrial land. The primary driver here is the transformation of obsolete grain storage assets within a Pearl River Delta development policy that prioritizes land-value activation and the reintegration of riverfront edges through adaptive reuse rather than demolition. The constraints are evident in structural preservation requirements, regulatory setbacks along the riverbank, and the economic pressure to embed commercial functions within an existing framework without significantly increasing Construction costs. The spatial resolution emerges through a vertical distribution of program: commercial activities at ground level, overlaid with a public layer on the roof, where the existing structure is reconfigured into a device for organizing movement rather than acting as a purely formal envelope. The canopy system operates as an intermediate mechanism, regulating visual exposure without increasing spatial isolation, reflecting a negotiated balance between commercial return logic and the requirements of public accessibility. For more insights on innovative Projects and Architecture Competitions, you can browse the Archive for relevant case studies and outcomes.