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Explore the region
About Wukang Mansion
Designed by László Hudec and completed in 1924, it was originally known as the Normandie Apartments.
Its form makes the intersection itself part of the architectural experience. French Renaissance detailing and open verandas give the residential building a different character from the commercial towers on the Bund. View the exterior from safe public space and keep entrances clear: this remains an apartment building, not a museum with unrestricted interior access.
The apartment was developed by the China Jianye Real Estate Company (中国建业地产公司) on behalf of the International Savings Society (万国储蓄会), which bought the wedge-shaped plot in 1924. Following the company's practice of naming its Shanghai apartments after French places, the finished building was called Normandie, and it became Shanghai's first veranda-style apartment building. Early tenants were mostly senior foreign employees of trading firms and companies operating in the city.
Wartime internment and deportation of British, American and French residents left occupancy at about one third by 1945. After the heavily indebted International Savings Society was liquidated in 1946, the Shanghai municipal government bought some of its properties, including this one, and allocated most apartments to civil servants. In 1953 the building was renamed Wukang Mansion and placed under Xuhui district housing management, mainly for military cadres and enterprise staff.
The reinforced-concrete building rises eight storeys, over 30 metres high, with a recessed ground-floor arcade and long balconies at the third and eighth floors marking its three-part facade; two light wells were cut into the north side for interior lighting. It originally held sixty-three apartments and more than thirty servants' rooms, served by a spiral staircase and three elevators, and was listed among Shanghai's Excellent Historic Buildings (上海市优秀历史建筑) in 1994.
What to look for
- The wedge-shaped plan responds to the meeting of the two streets.
- French Renaissance detailing and verandas define the historic apartment façade.
Background & history
The Wukang Mansion or Wukang Building (Chinese: 武康大楼), formerly known as the Normandie Apartments or International Savings Society Apartments, is a protected historic apartment building in the former French Concession area of Shanghai. It was designed by the Hungarian-Slovak architect László Hudec and completed in 1924. The building has been the residence of many celebrities.
Excerpt from Wikipedia: Wukang Mansion · Wikipedia contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected introductory sentences; formatting simplified. Background information, not current visitor-service advice.
Location & getting there
Getting to Wukang Mansion
Approach 1836–1858 Middle Huaihai Road at the southern end of Wukang Road. Choose a safe public viewing position around the junction and respect residents’ entrances.
Combine your visit
A suggested sequence linking the specific features of this visit.
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Middle Huaihai Road façade
Read the building’s long residential frontage.
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Wedge-shaped corner
Compare the sharply narrowing end with the broader side elevation.
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Wukang Road武康路
Continue into the neighbouring historic street.
This order is editorial. Confirm access and any transfers between stops; it does not establish a walking route, same-day connection or common admission ticket.
Find Wukang Mansion
武康大楼 · 徐汇区
The pin marks the area, not the entrance.
More places nearby
Approximate straight-line distances between map pins, not travel distances.
Wukang Road 武康路
Less than 1 km awayWukang Road runs through the western part of Shanghai’s former French Concession in Xuhui. Formerly Route Ferguson, it is lined with historic residential and institutional buildings under plane trees.
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2 km awayJing’an Temple stands directly on West Nanjing Road, placing a Buddhist precinct within one of Shanghai’s busiest commercial districts. The temple moved to this general site during the Song period and has undergone later…
View guide →Sources & visit information
The linked encyclopedia sources support background and place descriptions. Current opening hours, ticket prices, booking rules and transport schedules have not been independently verified for this guide. Confirm them with the venue or operator before travelling.
Visitor information adapted and edited from Wikipedia contributors, “Wukang Mansion” · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 1364673521.
Background paragraphs translated and condensed from Wikipedia contributors, "武康大楼", Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 92921517.