Press Release
Ying Bi and Siyu Bai Receives the Bronze A' Design Award for Factory City To Education City Multifunctional Theater in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Ying Bi and Siyu Bai for architecture, building and structure design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Factory City To Education City Multifunctional Theater by Ying Bi and Siyu Bai has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category. The award was conferred within the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Bronze A' Design Award Explained
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
Regarding Factory City To Education City Multifunctional Theater
This project reimagines Ivrea's industrial heritage as a contemporary educational and cultural campus. Through the adaptive reuse of existing concrete structures and the insertion of new modular steel buildings, the design transforms a former production environment into a connected framework for learning, performance, and public life. A theatre, multifunctional spaces, and an open circulation spine together create a flexible civic landscape where industrial memory evolves into a living architecture of knowledge.
Award Record
Ying Bi and Siyu Bai is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award
The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Entries typically include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. Awarded architectural projects are published at https://designers.org/design-category/architecture
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/182316
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/182316
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!182316
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/378374
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Factory City To Education City Multifunctional Theater
- Function
- Multifunctional Theater
- Category
- Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture
- Colors
- Light Gray, Silver, Dark Gray, Gray and Gainsboro
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Ying Bi and Siyu Bai
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #182316
Credits
- Team
- Ying Bi, Siyu Bai
- Image Credits
- Ying Bi, Siyu Bai
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The project transforms an industrial social-services complex into a modular educational campus. Existing concrete buildings are reactivated through light interventions, while new steel structures house a theatre and multifunctional spaces. A connecting public spine integrates learning, culture, landscape, and civic life, turning industrial heritage into a flexible framework for knowledge production.
- Inspiration
- The project is inspired by Ivrea's industrial legacy and the social vision of the Olivetti factory city. Rather than preserving the site as a static monument, the design explores how industrial structures can support contemporary education, culture, and public life. It draws from adaptive reuse, modular construction, and the transformation of production into knowledge.
- Research
- The research investigates how industrial heritage can be transformed into a contemporary educational environment. It combines site analysis, historical study of Ivrea and the Olivetti legacy, program development, and architectural prototyping. The project studies adaptive reuse, modular steel construction, and spatial connectivity as strategies to integrate learning, performance, and public life within an existing industrial fabric.
- Challenge
- The main challenge was to transform a historically industrial site into a contemporary educational and cultural campus without losing its original spatial identity. The design had to balance preservation and intervention, integrating existing concrete structures with new modular steel construction. Another key challenge was to create a clear relationship between theatre, learning spaces, and public circulation while maintaining flexibility, technical performance, and a strong civic character.
- Realization and Technology
- The project is realized through a hybrid system of adaptive reuse and lightweight steel construction. Existing concrete structures are preserved and reactivated with minimal intervention, while new volumes use a modular steel frame, long span roof trusses, metal roof decking, insulated build-up roofing, and perforated metal cladding. The theatre integrates acoustic wall lining, suspended acoustic reflectors, lighting grids, sprinkler coordination, and mechanical ducts within a clear structural logic.
- Operation and Interaction
- The project operates as a connected campus where learning, performance, and public life are brought together through a clear spatial sequence. Visitors move through open pathways, landscape platforms, and shared gathering spaces that link the existing buildings with the new theatre and multifunctional programs. This flow encourages informal interaction, flexible use, and a continuous relationship between education, culture, and civic activity.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project was developed in 2026 as an architectural competition proposal for the Olivetti Theatre site in Ivrea, Italy. It explores the transformation of the former industrial context into a contemporary educational and cultural campus through adaptive reuse, modular construction, and public space integration.
- Specifications
- Approximate site area: 8,000 sq.m. The project consists of a theatre volume and a multifunctional educational building connected by semi open circulation. The theatre is approximately 15 m x 23 m x 16 m, using a long span steel roof structure. The multifunctional building is organized on three levels with modular structural bays. Main materials include existing reinforced concrete, steel framing, metal roof decking, insulation, waterproofing membrane, glazing, and perforated metal cladding.
- Keywords
- adaptive reuse, industrial heritage, educational campus, modular steel structure, theatre design, multifunctional building, public space, civic architecture, Olivetti, Ivrea
