A groundbreaking industrial heritage park has opened in Jining's Zoucheng district, transforming the site of a former ferroalloy factory into a vibrant cultural and recreational destination. The Ferroalloy 1971 Industrial Heritage Park, designed by DDON Planning and Design, represents a successful model of industrial heritage preservation while providing high-quality urban green space for residents and tourists.

The park is built on the former site of the Lunan Ferroalloy Plant, which was established in 1971 as a national first-class metrology unit that made significant contributions to local economic development. After the factory declined and faced transformation difficulties in 2005, the Zoucheng Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government established a special task force in 2017 to collaborate with private capital on a comprehensive regeneration strategy for the district.

Covering a total area of 61,000 square meters with 45,000 square meters of green space, the park demonstrates innovative strategies for bridging the gap between industrial heritage and urban public space. The design team, led by chief architect Yuan Songting, successfully translated the inherent connections between the ferroalloy factory's history, the site's physical symbolic memories, and the vibrant urban space system to create a multi-dimensional landscape of natural art and humanistic aesthetics.

The park's core heritage area preserves critical production equipment from the original factory, including blast furnaces, hot blast furnaces, bag filters, and silos, which serve as the central exhibition elements. These industrial relics function as the commanding heights of the park's overall spatial landscape and serve as the starting point for shaping the spirit of the place. The design adheres to the internationally recognized "minimal intervention" principle, creating a striking contrast between the rugged industrial aesthetic and delicate, soft natural greenery.

A unique collaborative effort involving architecture, landscape, structure, and industrial heritage restoration teams resulted in a "secondary circulation" approach to the remaining industrial buildings. This system ensures direct access to the core industrial area while releasing new nodal spaces that enhance the visitor experience. Citizens can enjoy panoramic views of the park's core heritage area from a distance and access the site through an innovative corridor system that provides rich spatial experiences while immersing visitors in the industrial culture and history of the factory.

The park's spatial design is organized into distinct zones with different approaches. The southern area, adjacent to the city's main road, showcases the park's industrial culture and character through a restrained design approach that emphasizes the strict integrity and sense of order characteristic of industrial style. This area transforms the previously enclosed industrial site into an open public space by reducing design elements and materials while enhancing visitor activity spaces.

Conversely, the northern side of the site faces a secondary urban road and serves as vital green public space for surrounding residents. This area incorporates fluid and dynamic curved design language combined with abundant greenery, creating a distinct experience different from the core heritage area. The green platform utilizes the site's inherent height differences to provide various pleasantly scaled and comfortable landscape spaces where residents and visitors can admire the industrial heritage from afar while engaging in social activities.

Beyond the preserved blast furnaces and industrial relics that serve as the park's focal point, newly created nodes throughout the park offer visitors detailed cultural and functional spaces with themes related to the factory's history and industrial culture. These spaces feature comfortable scale, refined details, and natural feeling, providing high-quality public spaces that serve the daily lives of the public while drawing attention back to the present moment.

The Ferroalloy 1971 Industrial Heritage Park has successfully enhanced the city's image and appeal through selective preservation of industrial relics and creation of three-dimensional corridors that allow visitors to experience a space rich in post-industrial characteristics. The comprehensive spatial management of the north and south sides has boosted the park's industrial, ecological, and cultural atmosphere, attracting significant public attention during construction and sparking a wave of social media check-ins after completion.

As both urban green space and recreational destination, the park serves as a vital social resource and public cultural center that enhances residents' cultural life. The project functions as the core force of an industrial cultural tourism brand, synergistically promoting the surrounding area's comprehensive functions as a place suitable for living, working, and tourism, ultimately contributing to coordinated regional development and achieving significant regional revitalization.