Street-facing facade of Yanqing Li along Shengli Street

MIX Architecture opens Yanqing Li as a looping public promenade in Wuhan

Rafael CunhaARCHITECTURE4 days agoShort URL

Yanqing Li in Wuhan has been regenerated by MIX Architecture as an open commercial and cultural block, with historic alleys, courtyards and upper-level walkways forming a continuous public route through the site.

Aerial view of the restored Yanqing Li block within Hankou, Wuhan — Photography © Arch-Exist

Yanqing Li sits within the dense urban fabric of historic Hankou — Photography © Zhao Yilong

A winter aerial view shows the seven-building compound and surrounding streets — Photography © Zhao Yilong

The compound stands at the junction of Shengli Street and Eryao Xiaolu in historic Hankou. Built in 1933 by Zhong Yansheng, owner of the Zhong Hengji Construction Firm, its seven buildings combine Eastern and Western architectural elements around four intertwined lanes. Decades of war damage, subdivision and population change altered both the buildings and the way people occupied them.

The restored corner entrance addresses Shengli Street in Wuhan — Photography © Zhao Yilong

The main entrance portico retains the historic facade's proportions — Photography © Zhao Yilong

Yanqing Li seen from Shengli Street at night — Photography © Arch-Exist

Rather than treating the lifen as a fixed row-house type, MIX Architecture studied it as an evolving residential community. Like Beijing’s hutongs and Shanghai’s lilong, its identity emerged from the overlap of domestic life and commerce. Individual units gradually became passageways and shared rooms, while plants, furniture and everyday objects spilled into common space.

A secondary entrance leads into one of Yanqing Li's historic alleys — Photography © Arch-Exist

The primary alley forms part of a continuous public route — Photography © Zhao Yilong

Historic walls and new circulation overlap inside the renovated block — Photography © Arch-Exist

The studio describes this process as spatial evolution occurring on an original structural skeleton. Its intervention therefore retains the compound’s accumulated character while reorganising circulation for a new mix of shops, exhibitions, markets and events. Former courtyards, staircases and rooms have been opened up as public spaces that merge with the lanes.

An existing courtyard has become an open public atrium — Photography © Arch-Exist

Existing rooms and courtyards have been opened to public use — Photography © Zhao Yilong

Planting and seating animate a central courtyard at Yanqing Li — Photography © Arch-Exist

At ground level, the four intersecting alleys now form a loop that connects directly to the surrounding streets. Open stairs and second-floor walkways add a three-dimensional promenade, bringing visitors past upper-level storefronts and terraces while improving visibility across the commercial units. The route is deliberately non-linear, allowing courtyards, rooms and elevated platforms to unfold as a sequence of discoveries.

A small market occupies one of the renewed communal spaces — Photography © Zhao Yilong

An open staircase connects the alleys with upper-level walkways — Photography © Zhao Yilong

A terrace beside Building 3 extends the public promenade above ground — Photography © Zhao Yilong

New construction is restrained and legible against the weathered brick fabric. Instead of completing every edge, the architects left gaps where tenants and visitors could add plants, furniture and small objects. Merchants become the block’s new inhabitants, continuing the informal occupation that historically gave the lifen its social intensity.

Light and shadow move through the connected atriums and walkways — Photography © Arch-Exist

Small-scale additions support a contemporary version of lifen life — Photography © Arch-Exist

Shops illuminate the primary alley after dark — Photography © Zhao Yilong

This approach allows commercial activity and historic character to coexist without turning the complex into a frozen monument. MIX Architecture frames the project as a process of regrowth, guiding new uses along the rhythms already embedded in the site and giving the wider Sanyang urban renewal programme a pilot model for adaptive reuse.

Concept sketch illustrating the regeneration strategy for Yanqing Li — Drawing courtesy of MIX Architecture

Spatial circulation diagram for the renewed lifen compound — Drawing courtesy of MIX Architecture

Site plan showing the seven buildings and four interconnected alleys — Drawing courtesy of MIX Architecture

Secondary entrance elevation and architectural detail — Drawing courtesy of MIX Architecture

Section and detail drawing through Building 3 — Drawing courtesy of MIX Architecture

Founded in 2016, MIX Architecture works across architecture, interiors and landscape, with an emphasis on site, material construction and the relationship between people and nature. At Yanqing Li, that approach is expressed through careful repair and connection rather than a singular architectural object.

Project Credits

Project Name: Yanqing Li
Location: No. 287 Shengli Street, Jiang’an District, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Architectural Design: MIX Architecture / @mix_architecture
Site Area: 5,829 m²
Building Area: 8,109 m²
Design Period: October 2023 to August 2025
Construction Period: October 2024 to October 2025
Photography: Zhao Yilong, Arch-Exist