(Photo provided to Xinhua Daily)

The Li Hongzhang Ancestral Hall Pond preservation project in Nanjing, led by the Architects & Engineers Co. Ltd. of Southeast University, was “highly commended” in the AR New into Old Awards 2025, organized by the British architectural magazine The Architectural Review.

Launched in 2017, the AR New into Old Awards celebrate creative transformations of existing structures, from innovative insertions to ambitious adaptations.

Located at No. 77 Sitiaoxiang in Nanjing’s Qinhuai District, the ancestral hall was built to honor Li Hongzhang, a prominent official in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Restoration and exhibition efforts began in 2018, during which a lotus pond, believed to have been constructed before 1949, was discovered in the western garden.

The design team from Southeast University focused on preservation, exhibition, and visitor experience for the lotus pond project while addressing a range of challenges.

Professor Shen Yang from the university’s School of Architecture explained that one difficulty was how to protect and present the brick and earthen ruins in Nanjing’s hot and humid climate. Another was the need to integrate the site into surrounding residential neighborhood and ensure it could be a shared community space.

The team creatively installed a "steel basin" within the ruins and planted lotus flowers inside it. This approach recreates the historical scene of blooming lotus in the pond and preserves the original pond walls.