Asia Building

Asia Building

The Asia Building is a protected cultural heritage site of Shanghai.

The Asia Building is located at No. 1 Zhongshan East 1st Road. Constructed in the 4th year of the Republic of China (1915), it was designed by the British firm Palmer & Turner and built by the Public Welfare Construction Company. Covering a land area of 1,678 square meters and a total construction area of 13,391 square meters, it is an eight-story reinforced concrete frame structure.

The building’s design follows a classical style, with an elaborate Baroque-style entrance portico. The exterior walls from the ground to the third floor are constructed with natural granite. Zhongshan East 1st Road serves as the main entrance, while Yan’an East Road functions as the side entrance. Both facades are treated similarly: the main and side entrances feature two small round columns and four large round columns each, with carved icons on the lintels. On the southeastern sides facing the road, there are three semi-circular iron-railed balconies on the sixth and seventh floors. The middle sections of the sixth and seventh floors adopt a recessed colonnade design, with Ionic-order columns. The entire building has a regular floor plan, high interior ceiling heights, spacious rooms, and wide corridors. The inner courtyard’s exterior walls and corridors are clad in white ceramic tiles, which help brighten the interiors. All doors in the building are made of hardwood revolving doors, manufactured by the Wickes Timber Company.

Originally invested in and built by the McPhee Company, the property changed hands several times. In the 6th year of the Republic of China (1917), it was sold to the Asiatic Petroleum Company and renamed the Asia Building. In July 1950, it was taken over by the China National Petroleum Corporation. In January 1966, the building came under the management of the real estate department. It currently houses offices for the Municipal Real Estate Bureau, the Metallurgical Design Institute, the Municipal Silk Company, and the Housing and Building Materials Company.

It was designated as a protected cultural heritage site of Shanghai in 1989.