Yuhua New Village

Yuhua New Village

Yuhua New Village is a protected cultural heritage site of Shanghai.

Yuhua New Village is a garden-style residential compound located in Lane 182, Fumin Road, Jing'an District, consisting of 36 houses. Built in 1941 and invested by Shanghai Yuhua Silver Company, it was designed by architects such as Xu Jingshi, Yang Runjun, and Li Huibo from Xingye Architects, and is classified as a late-style modern lane residence.

The eastern half of the village’s site features 16 even-coupled residences with hipped roofs, which have larger floor areas and courtyard spaces. These are arranged in groups of four, forming a “field” pattern. The western half consists of 20 even-coupled residences with gabled roofs, which have smaller floor areas and courtyards, laid out in a row formation. All residences face south with regular and orderly layouts. Although these two types of houses differ in style and specifications, they share the common feature of adopting a double-bay layout with short depth and wide frontage. The hipped-roof residences have a depth of 10.5 meters and a width of up to 10 meters, while the gabled-roof ones have a depth of 8.5 meters and a width greater than 7.5 meters. This design greatly enhances daylighting, making interiors more spacious and bright.

The main entrance of the compound is situated on Fumin Road, with a width of 7 meters. The branch lanes for the hipped-roof residences are 5 meters wide, while those for the gabled-roof residences are 0.5 meters narrower. The main bedrooms inside all face south, with two bedrooms each on the second and third floors. The ground floor has a living room facing south, while the kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and small courtyard are located in the northern part. The residences are fully equipped with kitchens and sanitary facilities, and specially include service corridors and toilets for servants. Some also have garages. The floor plan of the gabled-roof residences is largely similar to that of the hipped-roof ones, but the rooms are smaller in size and the staircases are more confined.

In 1989, Yuhua New Village was included in the first batch of Shanghai’s Outstanding Historical Buildings and Protected Cultural Heritage Sites.