Broadway Mansions

Broadway Mansions

Broadway Mansions is a protected historical site in Shanghai.

Broadway Mansions

Located at No. 20 North Suzhou Road (now known as Shanghai Mansion). It was named after nearby Broadway Road (now Daming Road). The Shanghai Mansion, composed of a main building and an auxiliary building, is located to the north of Waibaidu Bridge. This is an early modernist-style, figure-eight apartment structure. Its exterior treatment and interior decoration are simple and bright, and the overall appearance is grand and imposing. The main building was originally named “Broadway Mansions.” The auxiliary building is also known as “Pujiang Hotel.” It is now a five-star hotel, offering six types of premium suites themed after China, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Japan, and Arabia. The hotel has hosted many heads of state and domestic and international tourists.

Towering at 76.7 meters with 22 floors, Broadway Mansions features a ＞＜-shaped form, which not only cleverly solves the issue of room orientation and lighting but also gives the entire building a majestic and upright presence. The original site of the building was the parking lot of the Shanghai British Tramway Company, owned by the British firm Y.M. Land Investment. The building is of an apartment style, designed by Palmer & Turner’s Basil Ward and constructed by the Shin In Kee Construction Company. Ward obtained his architect certificate from the Shanghai Municipal Council in 1923, and later designed many of Shanghai’s apartment buildings and lane houses, with the Shanghai Mansion being his masterpiece. Construction of Broadway Mansions began in 1930 and was completed in 1934, with an investment of 5 million taels of silver. It covers a land area of 6,600 square meters and has a built-up area of 24,596 square meters. It adopts the form of a modern skyscraper, featuring a double-layer aluminum-steel frame structure, giving the entire building a pleasing sense of rhythm. Starting from the 11th floor, the building gradually steps back, resulting in a uniquely distinctive architectural shape. The entire steel frame work was manufactured by the British firm Dorman Long. Due to the use of aluminum-steel, compared to ordinary steel, the weight of the steel columns was reduced by 35.5%, and that of the steel framework by 21.5%, greatly reducing the overall weight of the building. The foundation was well treated, and although the building is situated close to the Huangpu River, there has been no significant subsidence over the decades, demonstrating the high quality of the construction. Influenced by Western modernist architectural trends, both the exterior and interior decorations are relatively simple, without elaborate classical ornamentation, with only some Art Deco-style borders used around the cornices. Some consider Broadway Mansions to be an early representative of Shanghai’s high-rise buildings trending towards modernist style. The lower exterior walls of the building are clad in dark red premium granite, while the other floors are faced with brown Taishan bricks. All four wings of the building enjoy good orientation and are well lit.

These are the 19th to 21st floors of the Shanghai Mansion at No. 20 North Suzhou Road.

With a long history, Shanghai Mansion possesses many historically significant items, known as the "Four Treasures of the Hotel": a piano, an old British-style snooker table, an OTIS elevator, and a gramophone. The OTIS elevator has been in operation since 1934, is a vintage hand-operated elevator, and remains well preserved to this day. Follow the blog link to view photos from my blog.

September 25, 1989: Broadway Mansions was listed as a protected historical site in Shanghai.