The Anren Tourist Center, a remarkable renovation and expansion project of the historic Liao Wei Mansion, has been completed in southwestern Chengdu, China. Originally constructed as a private residence, the mansion underwent multiple transformations throughout its history, serving as a brewery and farmer's dwelling before eventually falling into disuse. In 2018, the building received official designation as a Chengdu historical building and protected heritage site, setting the stage for its current transformation into both a visitor center and community hub for Anren Ancient Town.
Designed by Atelier Li Xinggang and completed in 2022, the 2,877-square-meter project represents a comprehensive approach to heritage preservation and adaptive reuse. The renovation team, led by principal architect Li Xinggang and project manager Tan Zeyang, implemented a complete disassembly and reassembly restoration of the existing structure to prevent the deteriorating heritage building from collapsing. The expansion sections utilize steel frames and lightweight construction methods, positioned directly adjacent to the original walls and structures while maximizing protection of existing architectural elements throughout both implementation and post-completion phases.
The project site occupies a strategically important location on the peripheral edge of the ancient town, approximately one to two kilometers from the central Bazi district. Situated south of the main road and facing the bus terminal, the renovated complex functions as the ancient town's outer living room. The surrounding context includes densely packed self-built residential areas to the north, large-scale educational campuses to the west, and what were originally expansive farmlands to the east and south. The existing Liao Wei Mansion, together with surrounding trees and shrubs, formed a small Linpan cluster that served as the historical DNA of the area.
Before renovation, the mansion exhibited severe deterioration typical of buildings suffering from insufficient social attention and maintenance due to their distance from tourist centers. The restoration team documented collapsed courtyard walls, damaged gate structures, and deteriorated roof frameworks in several sections that were at immediate risk of collapse. As a typical mansion architecture representative of Anren's historical building stock, the original structure featured a distinctive three-courtyard layout characterized by high walls, expansive courtyards, decorative trees, and a prominent water tower.
The design strategy transformed the original three-courtyard structure into an innovative five-courtyard configuration by adding carefully planned extensions. The architects added a low-profile, flattened courtyard extension to the west and a taller, broader courtyard extension to the east, maintaining the progressive expansion and rising pattern from northwest to southeast that characterized the original layout. This expansion continues and amplifies the spatial character of the original pitched-roof architecture while achieving a cohesive integration of historical and contemporary elements.
The first courtyard of the renovated mansion now serves as an exhibition space showcasing restoration achievements of both the Liao Wei Mansion and other significant Anren mansions. This space exemplifies the significant heritage conservation efforts throughout the ancient town, allowing visitors to immediately experience distinctive local culture upon entering the visitor center. The new enclosure systems employ small timber framework construction utilizing lightweight methods that maintain appropriate relationships with existing structural components while providing comfortable resting spaces for visitors both inside and outside the building.
The second and third courtyards, originally compact in scale with damaged walls, received a different treatment approach. Rather than restoring the original residential layout, the design preserved the essential structural framework to create semi-outdoor spaces that form interconnected, flexible multipurpose areas with flanking courtyards. These adaptable spaces now provide venues for diverse community activities, supporting the center's dual function as both tourist facility and community gathering place.
The western expansion extends toward the community plaza with a gentle, low-profile monopitch roof that backs against the original building wall. This section faces the secondary entrance plaza of the Linpan town development, establishing a human-scaled interface and creating inviting community public spaces. The eastern expansion features a more dramatic pitched roof design that begins adjacent to the historic structure and encircles the courtyard with progressively ascending xieshan-style rooflines.
The eastern building volume, while maintaining an orthogonal courtyard layout, is obliquely truncated by site boundary constraints, creating a monumental monopitch roof profile that faces the main entrance. Toward the urban street and plaza, this section presents a gable-like vertical facade while maintaining humble scale and respectful distance from the historic building through carefully designed low eaves. The resulting hybrid polygonal volume alternates between gable ends and formal eaves, simultaneously embodying traditional pitched-roof typology and contemporary architectural abstraction.
Beneath the pitched roof system, diverse functional spaces of the visitor center range from lofty ceremonial areas to intimate gathering spaces, organized to serve multiple user needs. Visitors ascend steps along a carefully planned circulation path that alternates between proximity and distance from the sloping roof, culminating at a summit viewing pavilion. From this elevated vantage point, visitors can look westward to overlook the cascading rooflines of the Liao Wei Mansion and its various expansions, as well as survey the unfolding landscape of the entire Linpan town development. This viewing experience visually integrates the old and new sections of the visitor center while connecting the broader Linpan settlement with the historic mansion through strategic sightlines.
The project stands as a significant research sample of China's new town development approaches, demonstrating how heritage preservation can serve as the genesis for newly constructed neighborhoods. As the historical DNA of the area, the transformed visitor center now anchors a new cluster of Linpan spatial communities, providing both tourist services and community functions that support sustainable development of the ancient town while respecting its cultural heritage.
