Urban planner sees co-existence of new park, old factory possible

The old factory buildings that are only taking up one-sixth of the proposed new leisure area in Taipa shall not cause much conflict in terms of the overall design, Lam Iek Chit, urban planner and member of the Cultural Heritage Committee, has told local Chinese media outlet All About Macau.
The Macau government recently announced its plan to build a new leisure area near Nova City in Taipa, incorporating used car tires in the design. The land plot is home to five old cotton mills. The government did not announce whether the factories would be conserved.
The old factory buildings were owned by the Macau Textile Company Limited and were in operation between 1968 and 1971. The total floor area amounts to 6,300 square meters, making it the largest textile factory in Macau when it opened.
According to Lam, the special significance of the factory buildings is that they were built and opened when Taipa was still full of agriculture and fisheries.
The urban planner suggested reviving the empty factory buildings, which would highlight the theme of the park – conservation and environmental friendliness – while enriching the culture of the district. He cited the Overseas Chinese City in Shenzhen, the Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei and The Mills in Hong Kong, which have all been converted to cultural facilities from old factories, as examples.
In terms of architectural design, the buildings have zig-zag roofs with windows facing northeast, letting in sufficient sunlight in the morning.
Conserving the buildings would not cost the government as much money as those in the old Taipa town as the former is a concrete structure. In addition, preserving elements that resemble an industry that has supported thousands of local families is also worthwhile, Lam said. AL