The old Xi'an steel mill, founded in 1958, was once one of the most important steel production bases in Northwest China. LAB Lite transformed it into an urban creative hub integrating offices, exhibitions, and leisure, with 35,000㎡ renovation area.
The site preserves a complete steel production line including blast furnaces, hot-rolling workshops, and cooling towers — precious physical evidence of China's steel industry history. These rust-streaked giants carry old Xi'an's industrial memory and working-class spirit.
The "catalytic" renovation strategy preserves the main structural skeleton as a "historical vessel" while implanting new functional volumes as "contemporary catalysts." The blast furnace became a multimedia gallery, the rolling workshop co-working space.
New additions use glass and Corten steel, creating material dialogue with the old red brick and rusted steel. Intentional physical gaps between old and new, rather than seamless joints, allow visitors to clearly read historical layers. This "readability" defines the park's aesthetic.
Since opening, the park has attracted over 100 creative enterprises, hosts 200+ annual public events, and received over 3 million visitors. It has achieved economic self-sufficiency while becoming one of Xi'an's most vibrant urban cultural landmarks.
Selected as a national urban renewal best practice by the Ministry of Housing, the project was compiled into the national best practice collection. Experts noted it pioneered a sustainable "preservation-first, adaptive reuse" model for industrial heritage.
The park operates a "culture + commerce + community" model. Weekdays serve creative offices, while weekends and evenings transform into cultural consumption spaces. Regular "Steel Mill Art Season" and "Creative Market" events have become Xi'an cultural IPs.
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