“WE hope to preserve Shenzhen’s original memory by bringing back the harmonious neighborhood cultures and helping these old buildings cope with the city’s fast growth, instead of pulling them down,” said one of the founders of an investment company that turns shabby buildings in Shenzhen’s urban villages into stylish rental apartments.

    A group of six young people, all born and raised in Shenzhen, started the company named Glocal Investment in 2015 with the goal of refreshing the places where they had lived during their childhoods.

    With overseas study backgrounds, all of the six members, namely Lang Du, Wu Zhiwei, Ma Ke, Wen Zijie, Wen Zhiyuan and Bao Chengyuan, had stable jobs in Shenzhen but decided they’d rather achieve something more than banal stability, and in 2015 they jointly started the company.

    Within one year, the company had finished several renovation projects in urban villages scattered around Shenzhen, mostly in Futian District. Each project was tailored to the geographic position and cultural features of the old buildings in the villages where the city began to expand over the past 30 years.

    The latest project completed by the company was a block of old buildings in Gangxia Village in Futian District, which were owned by one of the co-founders, Wen Zijie, who had inherited them from his family.

    “I felt like time went back 30 years when I first saw the building,” said Lang, one of the main designers of the renovation projects. With garbage scattered around the floor lit by dim lights, the building stood amid a poor living environment, he recalled.

    However, as one of the time-honored buildings that were constructed with unique decorations and patterns, this building had followed the traditional Guangdong-style architecture, which excited the six members. “It would be amazing if we could turn the building into a livable and cozy place,” said Lang.

    For Wen, the priority of the renovation project was to improve the living environment of the building. “My generation has the responsibility to preserve and improve the properties since we have inherited such valuable treasures from our previous generation,” said Wen Zijie.

    Since the building was constructed with cement and sea sand, and every wall is a load bearing wall, the difficulty of renovating brought challenges to the company. Thanks to their determination, the renovation project managed to preserve all of the original elements including the house number plate, iron railings, the external walls and all the window frames, said Lang.

    The design team also made breakthroughs to fix problems such as water-leakage, load bearing walls and the humid environment in the house. The building looked completely new within two months.

    To better use the interior space of the renovated buildings, the team also put tremendous effort into designing the public space into separate sections including kitchens, mini-cinemas, lounges and so on.

    The rental prices for the rooms inside the renovated buildings have soared from around 500 yuan (US$75.4) to about 3,000 yuan per month.

    According to the company, not everyone can live in the rental rooms. The company only accepts tenants who are open to positive life attitudes and willing to share their thoughts and minds. Tenants, who have special talents, including painting and photography, are particularly preferred. (Zhang Qian)