Former Site of Butterfield & Swire

Former Site of Butterfield & Swire

The former site of Butterfield & Swire is a protected cultural heritage site of Tianjin.

Original Butterfield & Swire Building

Era: 1886

Address: No. 165, Jiefang North Road, Heping District, Tianjin

Category: Important Modern Historical Site and Representative Architecture

Butterfield & Swire was one of the early foreign trading companies in Tianjin and the second-largest after the British Jardine Matheson. The company was founded by a Scotsman named Scott in 1812 at the port of Liverpool in the United Kingdom, primarily engaged in shipping. Its headquarters later moved to London. The Tianjin branch was established in 1881 and once monopolized China’s shipping industry together with Jardine Matheson, later expanding into sugar, paint, insurance, and barge operations. The original location of Butterfield & Swire was in several simple houses on what is now Taierzhuang Road. Within just a few years, it grew rapidly and in 1886 used accumulated funds to construct this building. By the early 1930s, Butterfield & Swire owned 79 ships with a total tonnage of over 1.5 million tons.

The building is bordered by Taiyuan Avenue to the east, Jiefang North Road to the south, Dalian Road to the west, and Taierzhuang Road to the north. It has a construction area of 1,971.27 square meters, featuring a two-story brick-and-wood structure with exposed brick walls. The floor plan is concave-shaped, with a high-step entrance and an upper section that steps back to form a terrace. All doors and windows are arched, with the first-floor window lintels decorated with radiating floral patterns. The flat roof is topped with a parapet. The design is novel and the style distinctive. The architecture has largely retained its original appearance.

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Protected Cultural Heritage Sites of Tianjin