Heritage buildings are representative of culture, aesthetics, building techniques and lifestyle of a certain period. But with the change of time, it is difficult for heritage buildings to meet the demands of modern-day society, and as a result, they lose their original functionality. The colonial architecture of Lahore during the British era was its most distinguishing feature and Burt Hall, built in 1913, is a key example. It is an architecturally significant building which is not only reminiscent of the British colonial past but also reflects the lifestyle of the British Raj. Presently, owing to sheer negligence and callous disregard, it is losing its importance and deteriorating rapidly. The challenge today is to find the most appropriate function that modifies and offers new uses for the building, while keeping the historic essence of the area in which it is situated and allows it to play an important role in community revitalisation. This paper focuses on a historical study of the Burt Institute, devising strategies for its conservation and a methodology to achieve a sustainable future.

With the relocation of the former International Export Company 4 years ago, its building group, which includes not only the earliest existing modern food industry buildings imported from Western countries but also the earliest large-scale reinforced concrete buildings in good condition domestically, has now ceased the functions of food processing and cold storage since first establishment in 1912. This earliest foreign-funded factory with a history of over 100 years in Nanjing will be transformed into a landmark complex integrating commerce, culture and tourism according to the requirements of regional development. As a main member of the design team, as well as a participant in the project ‘Research on reinforced concrete building protection technology in early modern China’ supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, I have the ability to provide a comprehensive evaluation and research on this industrial architectural heritage from the different perspectives of architectural history and regeneration in this paper. Given the significance of this historic building group in modern China, this research will fill a gap in relevant historical study, offering a typical case study of modern industrial buildings and their utilization in China.

The pst-industrial era witnesses the gradual decline or transformation of China’s traditional industrial industry. Meanwhile, the original facade design of most of the existing industrial architectural heritage can no longer keep up with the pace of the times, which left a lot of issues that need to be considered and studied urgently in the renovation of industrial architectural heritage. In this article, the adaptive facade renovation design of industrial architectural heritage was studied and effective design strategies were summarized. Firstly, the research background of adaptive renovation of industrial architectural heritage and the research objects in this article were outlined and discussed, and then the relevant concepts and materials of facade renovation of industrial architectural heritage were summarized. Secondly, the renovation of Nanjing Hutchison Factory was cited here as an example for specific analysis. Finally, based on the analysis and summary of the case, corresponding design strategies and methods for the adaptive facade renovation were summarized, and the future research direction was put forward. This article is not only of great guidance and promotion to the renovation of Hutchison, but also of certain reference value to similar facade renovation projects of architectural heritages in China and even in the world.