The China Enzyme City terracotta facade archive documents red and dark-grey panels across the core area’s office buildings in Weinan, Shaanxi Province. The lower floors and podiums use the warmer fired-clay fields alongside dark-grey aluminium and glass on the taller volumes.
This source-checked replacement preserves five complete project photographs, corrects an old English province error and keeps the core-area site, total building and terracotta supply measurements in separate fields.
- Formal project
- China Enzyme City (Core Area)
- Correct location
- Weinan, Shaanxi Province, China
- Architect attribution
- China Northwest Architecture Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd., supplier-reported
- Core-area site
- Approximately 220,000 m²
- Core project building area
- Approximately 279,000 m²
- Archived LOPO supply
- 6,500 m² of terracotta panels for the office buildings
- Archived colours
- Red 770 and grey 884
- Archived thickness
- 30 mm
- Item / face dimensions
- Not published in the reviewed project archive
China Enzyme City is in Shaanxi, not Shanxi
The archived English LOPO article places the project in “Shanxi Province.” That is a translation error. Its Chinese version identifies 陕西省, and Weinan is a city in Shaanxi Province. The project is in the former Weinan Economic and Technological Development Zone; later public records refer to the area through Weinan High-tech Zone administration.
Public sources describe China Enzyme City as a programme co-developed by the China Biotech Fermentation Industry Association and the Weinan development-zone authority. A March 2018 Shaanxi Academy of Sciences institute record identifies the core project as one museum, one online platform and six centres and reports a total building area of 279,000 m².
The 2018 record does not turn the whole 279,000 m² into the office complex shown here. It covers the core programme, including research, pilot, testing, training, entrepreneurship and incubation functions. LOPO’s 220,000 m² figure is explicitly a construction-site area. The two measurements therefore describe site and building scales, not competing facade quantities.
A milestone record rather than an invented completion year
An official 2017 Weinan government work report lists China Enzyme City among projects being accelerated. In September 2019, an inspection record published by China’s National Development and Reform Commission still describes it as a construction project. LOPO published its facade record on 25 February 2021.
By August 2022, China Media Group’s International Online described the China Enzyme City project as built and in use while reporting an event in the core area. These records establish a sequence—active development by 2017, construction in 2019 and use by 2022—but they do not establish one authoritative design year or completion date for every core-area building.
LOPO attributes the architecture to China Northwest Architecture Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd. No reviewed public project sheet named an individual lead architect, client entity, facade consultant, main contractor or panel installer, so the replacement does not invent those team fields.
Dated LOPO panel schedule and responsibility boundary
The LOPO company archive dated 25 February 2021 reports red panels in colour 770 and grey panels in colour 884, both 30 mm thick. It states that 6,500 m² of LOPO terracotta was supplied for the office building complex. No item number, face width, face length, surface-finish code, piece count or quantity split by colour appears in the reviewed project record.
The photographs show warm red and dark-grey fields at podium and lower-floor level, set against dark-grey aluminium and glass on the taller volumes. They support the broad composition, but they cannot establish colour tolerances, module dimensions, joint widths, hidden profiles, fixing centres or wall build-up.
Manufacturer/supplier archive
The dated company record supports LOPO as the terracotta manufacturer/supplier and reports the 6,500 m² quantity. It is not a signed contract and does not prove a wider scope.
Unverified responsibilities
No reviewed source assigns facade design, structural engineering, shop drawings, subframe, installation, main-contract, inspection or commissioning to LOPO.
No inferred performance
The old general claims about cold-climate suitability and easy cleaning are not reused as project facts. Current structural, fire, water, thermal and durability evidence must be project-specific.
What a current two-colour facade brief must add
This historical case establishes a colour pairing, archived thickness and supplier-reported quantity—not a reusable specification. A current design, extension or replacement enquiry needs an approved panel schedule and evidence for the complete wall assembly.
- current product item, face dimensions, profile, thickness, surface, colour references and approved range samples;
- elevations and schedules for red, grey, cut, corner, return, opening and special pieces;
- substrate, rails, clips, anchors, cavity, insulation, drainage, movement and fire-stopping responsibilities;
- project exposure, design actions, applicable standards and structural, fire, water and durability evidence;
- net and ordered quantities by type and colour, waste and spare assumptions, traceability and packaging; and
- mock-up, inspection, installation, access and maintenance criteria.
Use the current Terracotta Rainscreen page as a product-family starting point and review other built references in the Project Gallery. Request current drawings, samples and applicable evidence for the actual wall assembly.
Plan a red-and-grey terracotta facade package
Share the project location, elevations, panel schedule, colour proportions, support concept, interfaces, evidence requirements, quantities and programme for a project-specific review.