Winner: Sustainable renovation of the year 2024. Lichao Architecture Design Studio has led the Wuzhen Rural Brewery project in Jiaxing City, China.

The Wuzhen Rural Brewery in Jiaxing City revitalises a 25,400-square-metre abandoned factory into a creative industry park focused on theatre productions.

This project emphasises preserving industrial heritage within the Jiangnan water town area. Key features like exposed red brickwork, trusses, and chimneys are maintained, with mending techniques applied.

The design merges traditional and innovative methods, blending with the local landscape and using recycled materials.

It aims to balance aesthetic enhancement, sustainability and historical preservation, adapting industrial sites to modern needs.

Judges comments: "Ambitious and surgically done, this renovation of an abandoned factory seamlessly blends old and new. It sets an important precedent for how China – and the world – should deal with its defunct industrial architecture, converting the rundown industrial complex into a beautiful, welcoming environment without losing its sense of history or personality."

Studio: Lichao Architecture Design Studio
Project: Wuzhen Rural Brewery