BEIJING: Apart from the spacious interior, one could hardly find any other clue that this high-tech park in northwest Beijing was transformed from a furniture factory compound.
“Our park is home to more than 260 high-tech enterprises, including six unicorn companies and 16 gazelle companies,” said Zhang Lin, assistant general manager of Beijing Jinyu Culture and Technology Development Co., Ltd.
“We have already forged an industrial cluster for artificial intelligence, big data and healthcare. It is indeed a place where the old meets the new,” said Zhang, referring to the Jinnovation Park, a high-tech hub located at an old factory site in Haidian District, Beijing.
“The park is quite different from similar industrial hubs since we retain the tall and spacious buildings of the previous Temple of Heaven Furniture Factory,” Zhang said.
The renovation project was initiated in 2016 when the furniture factory, founded in 1956, was relocated to Hebei Province.
The designers had always wanted to retain as many of the original, decades-old structures and resources as possible. By renovation and upgrading, the park has reduced wastewater discharge by 26,000 tons annually since it was opened in 2019.
Yet, the park compound lacks underground space, which is a common feature of old structures built in the 20th century but seems to be an obvious drawback today. “It can be an edge otherwise,” Zhang said. “Those buildings are particularly favored by companies and institutes that have heavy and large devices and equipment. –Agencies
