Asia Building
building in Shanghai
The Asia Building (simplified Chinese: 上海亚细亚大楼; traditional Chinese: 上海亞細亞大樓; pinyin: Shànghǎi Yàxìyà Dàlóu), also known as the McBain Building, the Asiatic Petroleum Building, and more recently as Bund One, is a historic eight-storey building on the Bund in Shanghai, China.
History
The lot of the building originally belonged two British brothers James and Hayes Hogg, whose trading company Hogg Brothers opened in Shanghai in 1861. In 1899 the brothers decided to close their business in Shanghai and return to Britain. They sold the property to British merchant George McBain, whose company constructed this current building after demolishing an original house on the site.
The building was built in 1916 as McBain Building on the corner of the Bund (currently 1 East-1 Zhongshan Road) and Avenue Edward VII (today's East Yan'an Road), a location known as No. 1 on the Bund, near the former French Concession. It stands on a site of 1739 square metres and has a floor area of 11,723 square metres. It was the tallest and one of the largest buildings in Shanghai upon its completion. This fact, adding to its location, earned it a widespread nickname 'Number One Building on the Bund' (外滩第一楼). The building was designed by Moorhead&Halse, a famous architectural firm in Shanghai back then and built by contractor Yu Chang Tai.
The public source identifies “Asia Building” as building in Shanghai. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Asia, Building and building.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Asia Building”, the useful work is to connect “building in Shanghai” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q23132. Authority coordinates are 31.236, 121.487. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1861, 1899, 1916 and 1739.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Asia Building”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Asia Building primary sources, Asia Building archive and Asia research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Asia Building”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Asia Building” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.