Introduction

On September 26, 2023, the second Beijing Urban Renewal Forum recognized 10 best practices and 16 outstanding projects selected in the 2023 Beijing Urban Renewal Best Practices selection activity. Starting on October 7, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources and the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development jointly released a series of reports on Beijing’s urban renewal best practices. The fourth installment takes you to understand the renovation project of Block A at the Dinghao Electronics Building in Haidian District.

Overview

Dinghao Electronics Building is located in the core area of the Zhongguancun National Independent Innovation Demonstration Zone. Originally, it was an electronics department store, forming the Golden Triangle of Beijing’s Zhongguancun along with Hailong Electronics City and Zhongguancun E-World. With changes in the regional positioning of Zhongguancun, the noisy and chaotic department store was no longer suitable for the area’s new positioning. As electronic retail gradually relocated, in October 2020, Dinghao Electronics Building Block A began its comprehensive transformation and was put into use in April 2022.

Location

After the renovation, the building’s purpose transformed from an electronics marketplace to high-quality technology offices, substantially enhancing the interior space quality. The transformation also reshaped the external facade, integrating seamlessly with the surrounding urban environment. This has attracted leading global technology and innovation enterprises to establish their presence, achieving the goal of turning Dinghao Electronics Building into a new landmark for technological and business integration in Zhongguancun.

Implementation effectiveness

Firstly, there has been a significant enhancement in the building’s quality, transforming inefficient structures into high-quality, smart office environments. The project involved replacing the exterior facade to give the building a completely new image. Through partial structural renovations, issues like oversized floor plans and insufficient natural light were resolved, improving the comfort of the office spaces. The addition of a rooftop garden and a fitness trail offers office workers leisure spaces to enjoy scenic views and exercise during breaks. By upgrading the landscape and traffic flow, the project increased openness, interaction, and integration with the surrounding environment, ultimately forming a high-quality and internally interactive smart office environment.

Secondly, the improvement in quality has driven industrial upgrading, attracting leading enterprises to settle in. The project, closely aligned with the regional development positioning, transformed the original format of electronics retail into a high-quality office and commercial support space. It introduced technology companies like AInnovation, DP Technology, Witmem, miHoYo, and STMicroelectronics, as well as professional service companies such as Sinovation Ventures Works, CITIC Bank, MetLife, Grundfos Investment, and Shengjing. This has optimized the building’s industrial structure and the composition of its workforce, closely fitting with the overall industrial development of the Zhongguancun area.

Thirdly, centering on customer needs, the project enhances the building’s operational and service capabilities. The operators focus on perfecting property service management, comprehensively ensuring the needs of resident enterprises, and providing peace of mind and security, thereby stimulating work efficiency and enhancing workplace comfort. A ground-floor lobby designed for interactive service functions has been created, incorporating brand coffee shops that provide quality spaces for business negotiations. The building offers various service spaces for enterprises to conduct activities such as roadshows, presentations and exhibitions. Additionally, it integrates government and corporate resources, organizing policy briefings and corporate roadshows for government-corporate interactive exchanges, empowering business development and building bridges for government-corporate communication.

The scene of the Beijing Urban Renewal White Paper launch event

Innovative experience

Innovative multidimensional design, creating high-quality buildings

Firstly, there has been a significant enhancement in the building’s quality, transforming inefficient structures into high-quality, smart office environments. The project involved replacing the exterior facade to give the building a completely new image. Through partial structural renovations, issues like oversized floor plans and insufficient natural light were resolved, improving the comfort of the office spaces. The addition of a rooftop garden and a fitness trail offers office workers leisure spaces to enjoy scenic views and exercise during breaks. By upgrading the landscape and traffic flow, the project increased openness, interaction, and integration with the surrounding environment, ultimately forming a high-quality and internally interactive smart office environment.

The original architecture of Dinghao Electronics Building had closed floor slabs in the central area from the 2nd to the 10th floor. After renovation, parts of each floor slab were removed to create a 50-meter-high lightwell atrium, allowing double-sided natural lighting in the office areas, significantly enhancing the environmental quality of the office space. Spaces such as sightseeing elevators, meeting areas, and communication zones are arranged around the atrium, providing an open, comfortable, and suitable environment for interaction among resident enterprises.

The exterior facade design of the project adopts a mortise and tenon concept. By combining two types of curtain wall systems and adding vertical metal decorative wings, the overall appearance is more straightforward, towering, and full of technological sense. This not only echoes the convergence and interaction of tech talents here but also aligns with Zhongguancun’s regional attributes of technological innovation, making it a new landmark in the North Fourth Ring area.

Additionally, the project utilizes energy-saving technologies in its design, such as energy-efficient curtain walls, variable frequency equipment, and energy-saving lighting fixtures. Rational selection of building materials has earned it the two-star Certificate of Green Building, WELL Gold certification, and LEED Gold certification.

Ground-floor lobby

Lightwell atrium

Establishing a comprehensive operational service system and creating a platform for the interaction of international innovation ecosystems

The operators actively create an intelligent, humanistic, and shared open work community to enhance the business experience within the building, aiding the communication and development of resident enterprises. They build bridges between enterprises and the government, providing a platform for enterprise incubation and project implementation. By integrating various resources and information, they organize online and offline interactive events, continuously empowering resident enterprises. Through upgraded operational services, they create a technology ecosystem interaction platform that integrates employee socialization, enterprise services, project exchange, release and display, intellectual innovation, and government association collaboration.

Government departments coordinate high-level proactive services to explore and implement renewal paths

During the renovation of Dinghao Electronics Building, the Haidian District Government, in conjunction with departments for housing and urban-rural development, planning and natural resources, urban management, and the District Civil Defense Office, provided proactive front-line services. They held multiple research and coordination meetings on the project’s implementation and renovation, comprehensively considering multi-faceted issues like area balance, building outline, height, fire evacuation and suppression, as well as the challenges of applying new and old regulations. They considered the facts, overcame problems, and explored solutions to policy bottlenecks. Ultimately, they advanced the approval and construction procedures without exceeding the original building area and planned height, providing a reference path for the implementation of commercial office renovation projects.

Introducing social capital, leveraging the advantages of fund management, and efficiently driving renewal

The upgrade of Dinghao Electronics Building Tower A was entirely funded by social capital, with a fund jointly operated by managers and administrators, guiding the renovation process with an advanced budget model. Before implementation, all funds were secured in advance to ensure smooth project execution. During the project, they combined the budget model to drive progress, control fund payments and risks, monitor returns, and improve the efficiency of fund usage.

Innovative construction technology to overcome challenges

The renovation project faced various challenges like large-scale demolition, tight schedules, high risks, technical difficulties, cross-disciplinary construction, and limited space. Challenges were comprehensively assessed, and construction was organized with innovative technologies, ensuring safety and timely completion.

Multiple innovative construction technologies were used, such as high-rise building renovation cranes, complex curtain wall system installation, safety and protection for the demolition of the complex 90-meter-high curtain wall system, demolition of 13.5-meter cantilever eaves, hanging column reinforcements, green construction, and BIM for renovation. These key construction technologies successfully addressed the complexities, vertical transportation difficulties, and safety risks in high-rise building renovation in dense urban areas. The renovation techniques applied to Dinghao Electronics Building, upon evaluation by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, resulted in 1 invention patent, 10 utility model patents, 7 published papers, and technical achievements reaching advanced international levels.

Dinghao Building rooftop terrace night view

Dinghao Building entrance area