There's an overgrown, slightly wild feeling to Shenzhen's OCT-Loft, where cracked red courtyard tiles meet weathered steel, and bamboo stalks sprout haphazardly skywards.
The contemporary design estate in Nanshan district's Overseas Chinese Town is just 20 months old, but unlike some of the mainland's more gentrified warehouse district conversions, it has been left to feel a little rough around the edges. For visitors coming from downtown Shenzhen, or from across the new Bay Port border point from Hong Kong, it's a breath of fresh air.
'Hong Kong is too expensive now to make your dreams come true,' laments Kenneth Ko, who was the first to move his design operation into the OCT when it opened last year - only to be joined by other Hong Kong designers - Steve Leung, Patrick Leung of PAL Design Consultants, and Shenzhen designer James Nie.
'I needed space and enjoyed the way the landscape blended into the office,' Ko says. His 1,500 sq ft office building sprawls across three floors, and mixes retail with workspace and a gym - originally for his staff but now also open to members. A rickety dark-wood staircase carries staff up to their desks. The office also sells hand-picked design paraphernalia from around the world.
Other design studios also stand partly open to the public, each a medley of tradition, modern industry and chic new design forms.
In one there are bricks of tea on sale and old books to peruse. In another, a fish pond floats under glass and a traditional longboat supports a steel and glass conference table top, lined with Roman candles.
For local designers there seems to be no better creative catalyst than good affordable space.
A few designers such as Ko have taken the concept further. His cafe, called My Coffee, has become a mainstay in the area for its comfy blend of southeast Asian elements and European antiques. Staff and guests alike are encouraged to try their hand on the piano downstairs.
Other eateries here are equally disparate in character. A slick new fusion restaurant, LSD, designed by James Nie, is linked to a designer furniture store next door.
Entrepreneur Michael Chen operates one of five intimate wine restaurants, and the ChangPoo Treehouse - favoured by students - is a dark, eclectically cluttered snack bar with an in-house Chinese harp. For those accustomed to a town dominated by branding, it's a treat.
Steve Leung notes that as well as being affordable, the OCT layout is well suited to designers. Shenzhen-based architectural firm Urbanus refurbished the 55,465 sq metre complex - much of it built around 1980. They have modelled the OCT on Vancouver's warehouse district, but with a distinctive Chinese twist.
'Since they were actually abandoned industrial buildings the space inside is large with high ceilings, which provides room for designers and artists to create their work and exhibition environments,' Leung explains. 'The artistic atmosphere there appeals to many designers, including me. It provides a good platform for people interested in art and design to gather and share ideas.'
The development is slowly growing as a hub for design and art-based events. The Hong Kong-Shenzhen Biennale of Urbanism & Architecture was held there this year, as was a contemporary sculpture exhibition, and events organised by the OCT Contemporary Art Terminal (a subdivision of the He Xiangning Art Museum). Ko, perhaps optimistically, likens the atmosphere at larger events to that of a small European town during a festival.
Galleries are also creeping in. Ceet Douchafleur, a graffiti-artist and graphic designer from France, has a studio just outside the district and was commissioned by the local government to build an installation for the OCT's courtyard.
Leung says other artists have also begun to move into the area. 'It's crazy, this place, with the factories all around. Before it felt like just a small village but now it's growing, and you're getting galleries all around the edges [of the OCT],' says Leung.
OCT-Loft is in good company. As well as emulating other industrial art disticts such as Beijing's 798 and Bridge 8 in Shanghai, it joins an increasing number of design resources in Shenzhen
'We plan to strengthen the cultural industry and make Nanshan district a base for creative industries - a research and development centre for the digital industry - and a modern arts centre,' says Ye Minhui, Nanshan District Party Secretary.
OCT has also hosted international cultural events such as the Brands and Designers China Initiative and the International Cultural Industry Fair.
The OCT-Loft project has had teething problems. Although it does good business during the week with nearby offices and residents of the neighbourhood's high-end properties, weekends are quiet. Design studios tend to be empty then, and even OCAT closes between exhibitions. Military personnel sometimes loiter in the area, hampering photographers' efforts to snap the architecture.
Ko thinks little of the developer's efforts to promote the area as an artistic hub, and he complains about construction and too few customers.
Douchafleur has also noted an indifference to design on the part of the developer, but has confidence in those driving the project at government level. 'I think they pressure the developers to keep its artistic character,' he says. 'I'm now finding people who understand me, in galleries and in the government.'