Appearance of Sino-British Liaison Office old site

Internal staircase and floor

Windows on the second floor of the Sino-British Liaison Office

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Recently, the only century-old European-style building in Jiefangbei has reopened its doors. As a cultural and artistic space with leisure function, it is officially open to the public.

For Huang Huang, a well-known domestic soft decoration designer who has built hundreds of houses, he encountered the most difficult problem that he has never met: He encountered all kinds of “taboos” in the process of remodeling this old building. Under the strict restrictions, how to make it come back to life? A reporter from Chongqing Morning Post recently entered this mysterious building in advance and conducted an exclusive interview with the designer to find out what happened.

Protective use of the 110-year-old building

If you are a senior native of Chongqing, you may have an impression of this old European-style house next to Guotai Arts Center. The yellow and white French-style building originally built in 1910 has stood quietly in Jiefangbei for 110 years.

From 1939 to 1946, the British Embassy in China rented the building and established the Sino-British liaison office, where the Chinese and British exchanged and shared information and made contributions to the war of resistance. Now this old building that witnessed the history of modern Chongqing has become a key cultural relics protection unit. In early 2009, the old site of the Sino-British Liaison Office was listed by the Chongqing Municipal People’s Government as the first batch of excellent modern buildings in our city.

After the epidemic of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) waned, Huang Huang, native of Chongqing as well as well-known designer, received a heavy task: to rebuild the internal environment and turn it into a cultural and artistic space integrating art appreciation and citizen leisure.

It is forbidden to change the walls and hang curtains in the house

For Huang Huang, who has many years of design experience, it is not difficult to design an old house beautifully. However, he encountered the most terrible thing feared by each designer: the content of the transformation was strictly restricted!

The Sino-British Liaison Office is undoubtedly the most “demanding” “customer”.

In order to keep the old buildings the same as before, and prevent from damage, the Department of cultural relics has made rigid regulations: when decorating the interior of the Sino-British Liaison Office, it is forbidden to change its structure, paint, wallpaper or a nail must be reported... There are several pages for the list of bans.

When moving furniture in, you cannot use a crane. The table was manually moved upstairs after it was dismantled. Flowers can only be placed indoors, and curtains cannot be hung, because the fire protection requirements reach the highest level, which is almost harsh: Fake flowers and curtains are relatively easy to cause fires and are prohibited.

Huang Huang was once puzzled － Nothing could be moved, how could this old house “rebirth”?

Every designer is looking for breakthroughs, but this time it is really a challenge and breakthrough for him. In order to protect the old buildings, he should use the existing status and conditions when they are “tied”, use their imagination, and impress everyone who walks in by sight.

Therefore, Huang Huang planned to use bold green and burgundy hand-painted wallpaper, using bold color contrast to produce visual impact. Since he couldn’t use wallpaper, he expanded his thinking. He thought that the first thing that attracted attention from Chongqing to tourists was the movie. As a result, he collected exquisite and large posters, and each film bears the brand of Chongqing. These movie posters with Chongqing elements are paired with picture frames on the wall, allowing the cold walls to express different emotions.

He put on a retro radio, put flowers in every corner, and used the color and softness of the flowers to decorate the room. Huang Huang also arranged a 3.5m-rabbit made of flower clusters at the door. A “modern” giant rabbit appeared in the old building, creating a strong visual contrast.

Historic buildings belong to everyone who respects history

In the early summer of Chongqing, when the lights are lit, this small building with bright lights is very conspicuous near the Jiefangbei, a high-rise building.

Citizens and tourists who come and go can’t help looking inside when they pass by. Such a retro and elegant western-style architecture appears in such a time and space, showing a sense of through time and space and surprise. The cream-yellow exterior wall, the vermilion lintels, window frames and carved columns, and the livid roof gather the four sides of the building together, presenting a sedate magnificence with the overall color collocation.

Citizens can come in for free photos, drink afternoon tea, and visit the oil painting exhibition in the exhibition hall on the second floor for free. On the third floor, there are three life aesthetic theme spaces of “British retro”, “female power” and “literary and artistic nature”, showing a romantic atmosphere of retro.

In Huang’s opinion, this precious building belongs to all Chongqing people and everyone who respects history and loves life. He hoped to attract more young people to come to Chongqing, learn about its history and fall in love with it, just like he did.

According to the plan, the Sino-British Liaison Office will create a cultural and artistic space with fun, good-looking, interesting, high-quality and valuable through holding exhibitions, academic exchanges, art salons and other activities. In Jiefangbei, there are 14 key cultural relics protection units, such as the Old Site of Xinhua Daily and the Old Site of Sino-British Liaison Office, to deeply tap the characteristic resources and promote the integration of culture, commerce and tourism. (Translated by Luo Juan, Fathom Language Limited)