This highly innovative building retrofit / repurposing of an old factory building into a fancy exhibition space in the trendy Art District 798 in Beijing, China. The room-length long air-handling unit (AHU) sticks out of the building above the main entrance. The first part of the AHU has plants inside for pre-filtration and cleaning of the often polluted outdoor air. The outdoor air then continues to be filtered by a HEPA filter and smells and odours are removed with a carbon filter. The air also passes through heating/cooling coils for conditioning before entering the indoor space. All of the above AHU processes are visible thanks the the transparent AHU design.

To aid the energy efficient heating and cooling of the space, a ground coupled heat pump is connected to PEX pipes embedded in the floor slabs to heat/cool the space depending on the season.

At the entrance, a vivarium full of plants helps to create a great green visual attracting people into the building, especially on cold winter days.