Shanghai Leiside Institute Of Technology

It is recorded that the Leister Institute of Technology was founded with his estate in accordance with the will of Henry Leister, a British engineer and real estate developer.

In 1840, Lester was born in Southampton, England. After receiving his bachelor's degree in architecture, he arrived in Shanghai, China, on a cargo ship in 1867. He is a devout Christian who has never married in his life. He has lived in the single dormitory of Shanghai Overseas Chinese Association for a long time. He lives very frugally, wears shabby clothes, and insists on walking or taking the tram to and from work.

In the first section of his will, he wrote: "For nearly 60 years, my main and permanent residence has been in Shanghai, China. Now it is the case, and it will be the case in the future. A long time ago, I chose China as my registered residence, and now it is the case..." Rashid believed that he spent his life in Shanghai and gained wealth. After his death, using his assets to benefit the people of Shanghai was the only correct and appropriate choice. According to his will, all of his heritage was used to establish the "Leister Foundation", which mainly supported the construction and development of cultural undertakings in Shanghai, including his special mention of "donating to establish a Leister School with a capacity of more than 300 people, open to Chinese and foreign students, especially Chinese students", which was later known as the Leister Institute of Technology.

In 1934, the main buildings of Leister Institute of Technology and its affiliated middle schools, located at No. 505, East Changzhi Road, were completed and put into use.

The Lester Institute of Technology was established on October 1, 1934 and closed in 1945. It lasted only 10 years. It set up courses in architecture, civil engineering, machinery, electrical engineering, etc. It was the only engineering college in Shanghai that could compete with St. John's and the two first-class universities in Shanghai and Jiangsu in that year, except Jiaotong University. Only five students graduated from Lester Middle School and High School, with a total number of no more than 1000 students, but they agreed that Lester School had laid a solid foundation for them. According to their memories, the school's educational method has two remarkable characteristics: one is to take notes in lectures rather than textbooks; Another special place is to emphasize the combination of theory and practice, so that students' practical ability can be enhanced.

Rashid Institute of Technology was taken over by Japan in 1942 and became Wusong Merchant Shipping Academy after the victory of the Anti Japanese War. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was the clinic of China Merchants Bureau and the staff hospital of the Maritime Bureau. In 1955, it was renamed Shanghai Seafarer Hospital. In 1994, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government announced that the former site of Lester Institute of Technology was an excellent historical building in Shanghai.

To this day, the Lester Foundation still exists, and its headquarters has moved to London. Since 1975, the Foundation's Student Aid Program has been officially launched to subsidize Chinese graduate students studying in the United Kingdom and engaged in architecture and other fields. They are required to return to China after completing their studies. The knowledge and technology learned will benefit the Chinese people.

In order to revitalize the Leister Institute of Technology, this renovation focuses on the protection of the main building, interior decoration and environmental improvement, so as to restore the historical architectural style and decoration features while eliminating the existing structural safety hazards.

In view of the aging and insufficient bearing capacity of the structure of Rashid Institute of Technology, this repair and transformation adopts the carbon fiber cloth reinforcement method. Shanghai Xia'an Engineering Technology Co., Ltd. is responsible for the construction, and Shanghai Horse Construction Technology Co., Ltd. supplies materials, mainly including carbon fiber cloth, carbon fiber impregnated adhesive, etc.

On the premise of ensuring structural safety, the repair project should respect the history and current situation of the building, and keep all the history of key parts such as the ladder classroom and the auditorium in accordance with the principle of "ensuring the best". The detail design echoes the context of historical buildings, so that the new and old buildings form a new whole.