Highlights first seen, unveiled before National Day holiday, the renovation project of Nanjing Road Century Plaza unveiled to the media for the first time

The prototype of the renovation of Nanjing Road Century Square is emerging. Standing on the 4th floor platform of No. 558 Nanjing East Road, overlooking: Within a fenced off construction site, a giant stainless steel curtain wall stands at one end of the square. The surface of the curtain wall reflects images of the square, tourists, and the surrounding environment, like a dream. The floor tiles resembling a picture of pearl oysters have been basically paved, and from a distance, they look like stars on a blue ocean. Various vibrant green plants are decorated around the square

Nanjing Road Walkway is a landmark of Shanghai, and Century Square, located in the middle of it, is one of the landmarks. After 20 months of closure, Century Plaza will be unveiled before the National Day this year, returning to Nanjing Road Walkway with a new look. On the 14th, the renovation project of Nanjing Road Century Square was unveiled to the media for the first time, inviting media reporters to enter the square and visit the synchronously updated commercial buildings and shops around the square. The magnificent turn of Century Square will present five highlights:

Highlight 1: Pearl Kaleidoscope, City Reception Hall

Magic kaleidoscope, versatile framing, pearl kaleidoscope... The brand new Century Square is endowed with many "labels". This is actually interpreting the effect of its design innovation presentation from different perspectives.

"The conceptual design work for the renovation and renewal of Century Square has been launched since December 2019. After multiple comparisons and approvals, the final design plan - 'Pearl Kaleidoscope, Urban Reception Hall' - was jointly completed by foreign and domestic teams. The design image is to design Century Square as a shining shell, paying tribute to the regional and historical characteristics of Shanghai as a model waterfront city." said Yang Mingjue, the major office of Huangpu District.

Inside the square, there are mirrored stainless steel main buildings, green hills, and pearl shaped square flooring, simulating a shiny shell that has been described as a "magical kaleidoscope". Among them, the mirror stainless steel main building is a seamless mirror stainless steel curtain wall composed of 191 wall panels, with an area of 1200 square meters, which can reflect the surrounding environment and tourists in all directions, like a "versatile framing".

"This is the biggest transformation since the Century Plaza was built and put into use." Yang Mingjue said that as the only huge outdoor square space on the Nanjing Road Walkway, it has always assumed the function of a venue for important events such as commercial performances, public performances, festivals and celebrations on Nanjing Road Walkway since its completion. The renovation and renewal project of Century Plaza is a key construction project in Shanghai and Huangpu District. Upon completion, it will play a leading role in driving the transformation and quality improvement of the surrounding area of the Plaza, especially the Nanjing Road Walkway. The renovated Century Plaza will provide a large area of open space and pay more attention to landmark, multi-function and convenience. It can not only undertake different types of activities, but also serve as a place for Nanjing Road Walkway to stop, rest and relax, becoming a vibrant urban reception hall. Century Plaza will also introduce the new function of "the first show of new products, and the online red card punching place", implant cutting-edge high-tech publishing technology, adopt the avant-garde performance form, and add new eye-catching points for Nanjing Road Walkway in the fashion of release.

In addition to the renovation and updating of Century Square itself, the commercial buildings surrounding the square have also undergone functional transformation, business upgrading, and form transformation simultaneously. "The new Century Square will be an important landmark that showcases Shanghai style commercial culture and leads urban fashion consumption."

Highlight 2: "Pearl and Mother of Pearl" is the best tourist attraction

The brand new Century Square will have multiple unique landscapes worth checking in for citizens and tourists. "One is the mirror stainless steel curtain wall, and the other is the square flooring, which respectively simulates the appearance of pearls and pearl oysters," said Yang Mingjue.

A huge mirrored stainless steel curtain wall, simulating the effect of a pearl, is also the "versatile framing" in Century Square.

Seeing this, many people associate it with the scenes from the Hollywood movie "Breaking Up" in the United States, and the "big kidney bean" shaped stainless steel ellipsoid of the Chicago Cloud Gate has become a popular tourist check-in destination worldwide. Professor Xi Shijia, a prominent expert of the State Council and the chief expert of the Century Square mirror stainless steel curtain wall, said that the Century Square stainless steel curtain wall is currently the largest and highest gloss continuous stainless steel flat curtain wall in the world. It has overcome many difficulties in material selection, testing, and technology, striving to achieve engineering technology that can rival or even surpass international standards, reflecting the latest achievements in Chinese manufacturing and Chinese craftsmanship.

Square paving is another major feature. The total area of square bricks is 3553 square meters, divided into 34518 small bricks, each of which has a different color and shape, to form a picture of mother of pearl.

In order to present the best results, the team led by Professor Song Jianming from the China Academy of Fine Arts, responsible for paving color design, conducted layer by layer selection and glaze color sample firing among hundreds of blue tones, and finally determined 12 blue color chromatography bricks with different chromaticity and glossiness. Designer Zhang Hongyin said that these 12 primary color chromatography bricks are arranged and combined with different chromaticity and color quantity to form groups of "units" with a "vast sea of nebulae" presentation. These different "units" are then used to create a "pearl and all things" landscape based on the overall pattern layout of the square. During the laying process, the entire paving site is subdivided into 150 sections. According to the on-site construction conditions, the paving sequence needs to be adjusted at any time to present a blue tone irregular halo effect.

Highlight Three: Renovation and Renovation of Existing Old Buildings

The Nanjing Road commercial district, which has a century of development history and fully demonstrates the prosperity and prosperity of Shanghai, has also faced the problem of outdated existing commercial entities.

At 558 Nanjing East Road, facing Century Square, the tourist goods store is an old building with a history of 30 years. The tourist goods store once had no presence on Nanjing Road due to its outdated business model. This time, No. 558 Nanjing East Road made a magnificent turn and aimed to create a "curatorial comprehensive commercial complex" by creating "curatorial space" and "art space". The originally enclosed building was transformed into a semi open one, showcasing a new business model for brand release, trend display, flash events, and more. On that day, media reporters visited the fourth floor of No. 558 Nanjing East Road, which is currently under renovation. From here, you can have a very clear panoramic view of Century Square. In the future, an aerial terrace will be built here, which will be open to citizens and tourists for taking photos and checking in.

The Chunshen Building, located at 626-636 Nanjing East Road, features the time-honored brand Shen Dacheng downstairs. The upper floors will feature immersive food collections such as specialty restaurants and themed restaurants, as well as cultural experiences such as museums, creating an "immersive cultural and commercial complex" named "Chunshen Haoshi".

There are also time-honored brands such as Shen Dacheng, Zhenlao Dafang, and Sanyang Nanhuodian around Century Square, which were already doing well in business. However, in conjunction with the renovation of Century Square, they have all been upgraded and renovated. "By focusing on time-honored brands and new China-Chic, we will lead the upgrading of traditional stores on the Nanjing Road." Wang Gang, the executive vice general manager of Shanghai Nanjing Road Walkway Business Operation Management Co., Ltd., said that there is no shortage of commerce in the Nanjing Road business circle, but the commerce here needs to be combined with culture and technology. This adjustment will no longer introduce European and American fast fashion, gold jewelry, traditional sports and other qualitative formats, but take internationalization, youth, digitalization, new China-Chic and other keywords to transform shopping space into social space, and constantly inject new vitality into Nanjing Road Commercial Street. "In the future, there will be a linkage between shopping malls, squares, and fashion shows here, enriching the categories of 'night economy', hoping to give more Shanghainese a reason to come to Nanjing Road again."

Highlight 4: Newly added flagship stores with several first stores

In this round of adjustments, the first "Ark of Transformers" themed restaurant in mainland China, the immersive cultural and commercial innovation leading brand THE BO31, the H ä agen Dazs Global Concept Innovation Store, and the Jinbo Market, among others, will all make their debut in the vicinity of Century Plaza.

For example, the "Ark of Transformers" themed restaurant is the world's second and mainland's first immersive, high-tech Transformers themed restaurant and retail flagship store. Its design is based on the Bo Pai spaceship in the Transformers story, incorporating high-quality global fast food, collectible products, etc., providing an immersive dining and shopping experience for Transformers IP enthusiasts and teenagers. The person in charge of the enterprise said that the scenery around Century Square is the most attractive. There will be excellent viewing spots from the first floor to the third floor.

The "Immersive Virtual Real Interactive Digital IP Performance Center" of THE BO31 will launch various high-quality digital entertainment content, including multimedia digital light and shadow shows, visual art electronic music, virtual digital human exhibitions, and metaverse concerts. The BO31 will also cooperate with Shanghai Nanjing Road Walkway Business Operation Management Co., Ltd. to create the city IP, and launch the exclusive immersive multimedia digital light show of Nanjing Road Walkway - "City of Light".

The first store of H ä agen Dazs entering the Chinese market is on Nanjing Road. The upcoming global concept innovation store will start with artistic store design, refined store operation, and digital store services to create an immersive brand experience center.

Highlight 5: Renovation of "Old Time Brands" Both Internally and Internally

The first floor of the real old house on Nanjing East Road has been opened, and the upper floor is still being renovated. Surrounding the fence, the sound of electric drills could be heard inside, but it did not affect the desire of citizens and tourists to purchase old brands. On the 14th, braving drizzle, many citizens and tourists were queuing up to buy fresh meat mooncakes from the real big house. According to Shen Min, the general manager of Taikang Food Co., Ltd., in order to carry out this renovation, the original site of Zhenlao Mansion has been closed for a year and a half. It just reopened last week, coinciding with the "mooncake season". In recent days, many people have been queuing up to buy fresh meat mooncakes, with daily sales of about 100000 yuan. The updated old house has increased its store area and looks even brighter.

Not long ago, the flagship store of the time-honored Sanyang South Goods Store on Nanjing East Road also reopened after an update. As a Chinese time-honored brand with a history of 153 years, we bring consumers unique products, services, and culture. Ge Ting, General Manager of Shanghai Shaowansheng Trading Co., Ltd., introduced that this upgrade project covers five highlights, including expanding business area, revitalizing spatial experience, enhancing self owned brands, upgrading characteristic products, and enhancing packaging style, further enhancing the shopping experience.

For example, the construction area has been expanded from 800 square meters to 1108 square meters, and the operating area has been expanded by a quarter. "As soon as customers enter, they say the shopping environment is good and they feel comfortable." The self operated brand products of Sanyang Nanhuo store have significantly increased, with the proportion in the mall increasing from less than 50% to 70%. Ge Ting said that in recent years, Sanyang has strengthened its moss and vegetable characteristics, and the store has now expanded in size, adding many freshly baked and prepared products. Not only are there Chinese and Western style pastries such as moss mooncakes, moss crab shell roe, and moss sock bottom pastries, but there are also updated specialty cooked foods such as moss striped prawns, moss striped pork tenderloins, moss striped chicken willows, and moss striped fish chunks.

In order to enhance brand affinity and attract the attention of young consumers, Sanyang Nanhuo Store has also teamed up with the "Old Brand Revitalization" team of East China University of Science and Technology to upgrade Sanyang's products. With Sanyang's "moss green" and "China red" as the main tone, highlighting the China-Chic style of Shanghai style, the packaging can be seen everywhere "Sanyang Kaitai", "coming for peace", "old moss type" and other Shanghai words. "San Yang Nan Huo Dian is the pioneer of Haipai Ning style, hoping to convey San Yang's culinary culture concept to consumers."

After the renovation, Shen Dacheng not only beautified the store image, but also made significant improvements internally. On the basis of maintaining the traditional impression of the original time-honored brand, it incorporates the Shanghai atmosphere, making the store's image more refined. In terms of products, Shen Dacheng's representative pastry products blend fashion concepts in the upgrade, integrating traditional pastry culture with fashion, and more in line with the temperament of fashionable Shanghai. In addition, the upgraded stores have also added a Shanghai Banshouli section, further highlighting the Shanghai style cultural heritage of time-honored brands.

Chen Yong, chairman of Shanghai New World Co., Ltd., told the reporter that the transformation of Century Plaza will promote the energy level of Nanjing Road Walkway. New World Group has five commercial buildings on the north side of Century Plaza, which have been renovated at the same time. Based on the improvement of the overall function of Nanjing Road Walkway, the linkage with Century Plaza, and the layout of the overall business types around Century Plaza, New World Group considers the positioning of commerce, highlighting the creation of a complex social space focusing on leisure, entertainment, and nightlife. By improving the business level of the middle section of Nanjing Road Walkway where Century Plaza is located, it will further radiate the east and west sections of Nanjing Road Walkway.

It is reported that Century Square will make its debut before National Day. At that time, all five commercial exterior facades and lighting projects on the north side of Century Square will be completed, and the first batch of flagship stores and first stores will gradually open.