Today in a standard Bund 18 tour, guides point out "gems" of the building, such as the gates, marble columns, mosaic floor and other features.
Because of its award-winning renovation, these features survived to be appreciated in a new, high-end retail center.
Filippo Gabbiani of Kokaistudios, chief architect of the renovation, says Bund 18 is remarkable because of the large number of original features that have been preserved.
Gabbiani, who grew up in a Venetian family of traditional glass makers, was commissioned in 2002 to renovate the building for mixed retail use. His team spent the first three months surveying the architecture and then worked two more years, virtually 24 hours a day, to complete the project. It opened in November 2004.
"We found original finishes on the lobby, the original columns, marble, floorings and decorations hidden under layers and layers, which had been boxed up during the 'cultural revolution' (1966-1976) for preservation, like many Bund buildings. Even the security people working inside didn't know these things existed," Gabbiani recalls.
"It was a magnificent building and had been a masterpiece in the way it was built because it took only 14 months to build with the technology of its time. It's impressive how the technology at the beginning of the last century was already so efficient," he adds.
The renovation tapped the expertise of Professor Guiseppe Tonini from Venice, an expert in stone, metal and marble restoration. The effects of corrosion and carbonization had taken their toll on the granite exterior.
Tonini developed a plan that required much of the exterior to be carefully cleaned by hand using traditional methods developed for Venetian buildings. It took 30 workers two months to clean the exterior.
Other highlights were cleaned and restored, including the exquisite bronze gates, the columns of Brecchia marble with beautiful rose-veined patterns, wooden balustrades of the main staircase, and the Roman mosaic flooring of the black, white and gray marble in geometric patterns.
If restoring the past is difficult, redeveloping the building on the basis of preservation for viable commercial use is more challenging.
The ground floor was originally a large open gallery with high ceilings for the banking hall. But a suffocating mezzanine had been added in renovation in the 1980s to increase the usable space. In the recent renovation, the central area was reopened for a bright, breathtaking effect, though the mezzanine on both sides was maintained, connected with the ground floor by way of two symmetrical stone staircases.
You may not leave a city because of cold but it may reduce your feeling of happiness.
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