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Architects: THAD SUP Atelier
- Area: 33484 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Zhi Xia
Text description provided by the architects. The Concept WRRF Yixing is a future-oriented Water Resource Recovery Facility & factory. The project aims to upgrade conventional sewage treatment plants to environmentally friendly and recycling-oriented plants. Alleviating the Not-in-my-backyard effect, the upgrade will transform a closed pollution-control plant into a sustainable and future-oriented infrastructure project that is environmentally friendly, open to the public, harmonious with its neighborhood, and available for science education. The site of the project, surrounded by waters and farmlands, abounds with ecological resources. In the 8-hectare site for the plant, 20,000 square meters of structures have been built, including a sewage treatment plant with a capacity of 20,000 t/d, a sludge & OM treatment center with a capacity of 100 t/d, a science management center (5234 m2) and a pilot zone for experimental lines.
The overall planning of the plant is implemented in pursuit of an intensive layout, the efficient use of land, the integration of landscape & buildings, and the care for humans. The wastewater will be treated into clean water, fertilizers, and energies, such as biogas and thermal energy. The clean water will irrigate farmland and return to nature. The fertilizers and energies are sustainable products from waste resources. A special “Tank Cafe” clings to the southern wall of a secondary sedimentation tank. The specially designed space can be also transformed into a multi-functional conference hall or exhibition hall, serving both professional and popular science activities. Several small courtyards scattered in the coffee shop have optimized views and positions of openings while covering structural elements and separating different zones.
Here people can perceive, experience, or even play with its features, enjoying the changes in nature, and the diversity of the ecological environment. Through the project, the conservation of resources, the care for the environment, and the respect for humanity are spread to the public. The core value of the project lies in creating a conceptual plant that not only meets industrial demands but also serves as a public space that draws people close to it. Here people can perceive, experience, or even play with its features, enjoying the changes of nature, the diversity of the ecological environment, and the ever-changing patterns of light. Through the delicate spatial experience, concepts of the plant are conveyed to people, raising their awareness for the conservation of resources, the care for the environment, and the respect for humanity.
The overall planning and architectural design of the plant area respect and integrate the design of sewage and sludge treatment processes, and achieve the four goals of "water quality sustainability, resource recycling, energy self-sufficiency, and environmental friendliness".
After a series of water treatment processes to purify urban domestic sewage with an average daily volume of 20000 tons, the water resources produced can be adapted to local conditions and maximally applied to urban and rural life production and ecological supply; The organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients produced can provide stable quality fertilizers for surrounding agriculture, planting, landscape, and other industries, drive their industrial upgrading towards green development, and effectively achieve a virtuous cycle of urban and rural materials.
Since the formal operation of the wastewater resource concept plant in October 2021, with the help of the comprehensive utilization model of "water fertilizer gas", and through continuous adjustment and optimization, the plant has achieved a self-sufficiency rate of 65% to 85% of the total energy in the plant area, and the water purification center has achieved 100% energy self-sufficiency.
At the same time, it also marks another substantive achievement in the pursuit of "water quality sustainability, energy self-sufficiency, resource recycling, and environmental friendliness" by concept plants, And will set a far-reaching practical benchmark for relevant exploration in other regions of China.
