Dahua Apartments

Dahua Apartments is located at 918–928 West Yan’an Road, Changning District, Shanghai. Designed by Hudec, it is also an “atypical Hudec-style” building with a distinctly modern character. Built with a reinforced concrete structure, its exterior walls are finished in off-white roughcast cement, giving the building a restrained color palette. The façade is symmetrically arranged, with large areas of doors and windows and horizontal balconies emphasizing its lateral composition, while the downpipes are integrated into the façade to form vertical lines. Inside, the balconies on each floor turn in a curved form and are accompanied by large floor-to-ceiling windows. In 1999, it was listed as an Outstanding Historic Building of Shanghai. On April 5, 2017, it was designated as a cultural relic protection site of Changning District.
The building has long been known as the “Little International Hotel”. From 1938, Hudec lived with his wife, daughters, and parents-in-law in a large apartment on the ground floor of the apartments until he left Shanghai in 1947. In 1949, it was converted into Dahua Hotel. In 1953, it came under the administration of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and was once used as cadre accommodation and an expert guest house. In 1978, it became Dahua Hotel and officially opened to the public, making it one of the few hotels in Shanghai at the time permitted to receive foreign guests. It is now used by Jinjiang Metropolo Classiq Dahua Jing’an Temple Hotel.