Ping’an Guangzhou Senior Living

Overview

Opportunity

Solution

Impact

Team

Reimagining Guangzhou’s industrial heritage as an urban senior living community, the project reconnects generations, heritage, and city life—creating an enduring place where everyday life is enriched by belonging, memory, and connection.

Location

Guangzhou, China

Client

Ping’an

Expertise

Senior Living [FPO] Buiding Transformation & Adaptive Reuse Building Transformation & Adaptive Reuse Hospitality

Opportunity

As cities evolve and populations age, senior living presents an opportunity to strengthen connections across generations, rooted in community, culture, and the life of the city.

In Guangzhou, a historic industrial waterfront site presented an opportunity to rethink the relationship between senior living and the city. Rather than creating a community separated from everyday life, the project transforms existing heritage into a destination where active seniors, families, and the wider community can come together. Connected to daily amenities, cultural destinations, social networks, and the Pearl River waterfront, the project creates a more inclusive model for aging that is rooted in participation, belonging, and purpose.

Why This Matters

01
Community Belonging
Successful senior living is rooted in connection to family, community, and everyday urban life, supporting independence, social engagement, and a lasting sense of belonging.
02
Unlocking Sustainable Value
Adaptive reuse extends the life of existing structures and reduces the need for replacement, unlocking long-term value from existing resources while supporting sustainability and resilience.
03
Preserving Cultural Memory
By adapting heritage sites for new uses, cities can retain their collective memory while creating places that remain active, relevant, and meaningful for future generations.

FPO Quote

Solution

By weaving together heritage, community, and contemporary living, the design transforms a historic industrial site into a senior living community rooted in connection and belonging.

At the heart of the design is a dialogue between heritage and contemporary living. The historic industrial structures were carefully preserved and adapted to accommodate new programs for wellness, culture, dining, and community life. The original brick cylinder was retained and reinforced with a contemporary glazed roof, reinterpreting the structure while honoring the vision of its original designers and craftsmen. Together, these interventions transform industrial heritage into a vibrant senior living community where cultural memory, connection, and active aging remain embedded within the life of the city.

From brief to build: how industrial heritage became a catalyst for transforming a dormant waterfront into a vibrant community destination.

The design process explored how industrial heritage could become a catalyst for rethinking senior living within the city. By studying the site’s history, cultural significance, and relationship to the surrounding community, the team identified opportunities to preserve meaningful structures while creating new destinations for everyday life. This exploration informed a series of strategies that balanced preservation and transformation, translating local heritage into contemporary design and activating historic assets for new forms of community life.

Reimagining Existing Assets

Preservation studies identified which industrial structures could be retained, adapted, or upgraded for new community uses.

Impact

More than preserving industrial heritage, the project creates a vibrant senior living community that supports connection, wellbeing, and aging in place.

Through adaptive reuse and heritage preservation, the project minimizes environmental impact while exemplifying sustainability and resilience. More importantly, it demonstrates a more connected and inclusive model for aging in place, where cultural heritage and community life remain integral to everyday living.

What Changed Because of This

01
Purposeful Living
Senior living becomes a platform for continued participation, connection, and contribution. It empowers active seniors to thrive with independence, pride, and engagement within the wider community.
02
Enduring Legacy
Adaptive reuse reduces environmental impact while transforming historic oil tanks into places for culture, wellness, and gathering, preserving industrial heritage and creating new shared memories.
03
Urban Enrichment
Along the Pearl River waterfront, heritage, landscape, and community converge, strengthening intergenerational connections and enriching Guangzhou’s evolving cultural identity for future generations.

A city is enriched by what endures. Our ambition was to create a place where people can thrive as they age while giving the site’s heritage new life, allowing both to enrich the evolving city.

Recognition

01

Beijing News

Covers the project’s launch, scale, and health-building ambitions, emphasizing central Guangzhou location, heritage preservation, and WELL plus LEED dual certification targets.

02

Guandian Organization

Reports the formal groundbreaking of Ping An Yinian City Guangzhou, highlighting Liwan White Goose Pond location, urban wellness positioning, and integration of historic buildings.

Team

Project Leadership

Yun Hsueh

As a Principal in Gensler’s Shanghai office, Yun explores new possibilities through design, innovation, and strategic thinking. Drawing on extensive international experience and a forward-looking perspective shaped by emerging ideas, trends, and market shifts, she brings global insight to projects responding to growth, change, and transformation.

[FPO] Julia Chang

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[FPO] Elsie Ge

Placeholder for office leadership name "Elsie Ge" — no matching pagePeople yet. "pnpm migrate resolve-stubs" swaps this for the real page once it exists.

FAQ

01

Where is this project located?

The project is located on a historic industrial waterfront site along the Pearl River in Guangzhou, China, within an established urban district connected to cultural destinations, community amenities, and everyday city life.

02

What challenge was this project responding to?

The project explores how senior living can remain connected to community life, culture, and everyday urban experiences as populations age.

03

How does this project benefit the city?

By transforming underutilized heritage assets into community destinations, the project preserves cultural identity while creating new social and civic value.

04

How does the project support sustainability?

Adaptive reuse minimizes demolition and environmental impact while extending the life and value of existing structures.

05

What makes this project unique?

The project demonstrates a new approach to urban senior living, integrating heritage, community, and everyday city life within a single destination.

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Related Expertise

Senior Living Buiding Transformation & Adaptive Reuse Building Transformation & Adaptive Reuse Hospitality

Reimagining Guangzhou’s industrial heritage as an urban senior living community, the project reconnects generations, heritage, and city life—creating an enduring place where everyday life is enriched by belonging, memory, and connection.

As cities evolve and populations age, senior living presents an opportunity to strengthen connections across generations, rooted in community, culture, and the life of the city.

Why This Matters

By weaving together heritage, community, and contemporary living, the design transforms a historic industrial site into a senior living community rooted in connection and belonging.

From brief to build: how industrial heritage became a catalyst for transforming a dormant waterfront into a vibrant community destination.

More than preserving industrial heritage, the project creates a vibrant senior living community that supports connection, wellbeing, and aging in place.

What Changed Because of This