Tower of Bricks is an art centre on the site of a former brickworks near Hengshui, China, featuring a brick-clad observation tower and vaulted exhibition spaces.
Shanghai-based studio Interval Architects designed the facility for the Hengshui Botanic Park, on the site of a derelict kiln on the outskirts of the city.

The industrial building was abandoned following the introduction of legislation banning the firing of clay bricks, and gradually fell into a state of disrepair.
The government's plan to transform the wetlands into a botanic park called for a new facility for showcasing plants, pottery and art, to replace the only building within this natural landscape.
Despite the change of programme, the office headed by Oscar Ko and Gu Yunduan wanted to retain a sense of the site's history through the choice of materials and forms, such as the inclusion of an observation tower that recalls the kiln's landmark chimney.
"The new architecture is a public facility that contrasts with the old kiln, which was an introverted building purely for industrial production," the architects explained.
"With the intention to connect to the spatial history of the place, the new botanic art centre has a massing and spatial composition that references the old kiln but is programmed with contemporary functions."

The art centre's floor plan references the layout of the Hoffman-style kiln, which featured a main fire passage surrounded by several small rooms that allowed...