The Architectural Design and Research Institute of HIT has completed a grand theater in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, China. 

Named Zhengzhou Grand Theater, the theater is located in the middle of Zhengzhou's Public Cultural Service Area. 

The new theater mainly accommodates a 1,687-seat theater hall, a 884-seat concert hall, a 421-seat multifunctional hall, an 461-seat opera rehearsal hall, and other ancillary spaces. 

Aerial view. Image © TimeRaw studio

The design acts like "a boat of art sailing on the Yellow River" and Zhengzhou Grand Theater is designed as the highest-level performing arts landmark in Central Plain Region of China.

Read the design narrative with the architects' own words. Through contemporary architectural languages, the project creates the image of a majestic "ship", which conveys the significant culture and civilization of Central Plain.

Aerial view. Image © TimeRaw studio

When night falls, the bright lighting indoors penetrates the large glass curtain wall, and the "sails" transform into a giant curtain. The audience's activities inside are revealed obscurely, which vividly interprets the artistic character of the Grand Theater as a performing arts building.

Building exterior. Image © TimeRaw studio

This project is a large comprehensive performance arts building. Its high complexity is reflected in the following aspects:

Functional complexity

The four major independent halls are integrated in this large comprehensive building, with multiple functions, large audience capacity and complex circulations. In light of it, the design needed to reasonably organize the layout of all functional halls and the circulations of both people and logistics.

Night view effect. Image © Wei Shuxiang

Acoustic complexity

The design had to fully respond to the different acoustic requirements of the four major halls, to ensure quality sound effects and avoid mutual acoustic interference.

Structural complexity

The project is a long-span building, with a length of 204m. Based on the characteristics of the architectural form, the exterior structure adopts steel trusses, and the roof is formed by grid structures, supported by three tower-like concrete bottom structures, together creating a new, distinctive mixed structural system. Besides, the project employs a variety of transfer structures, such as supporting column, Y-shaped column and lapping column.

Night view effect. Image © Wei Shuxiang

Fire protection complexity

The architecture consists of four performance halls. There are special requirements for fire compartments, width of evacuation path, number of emergency exits and evacuation distance. Specifically, as the fire compartment exceeds the conventional area limit, a performance analysis was necessary.

Night view effect. Image © TimeRaw studio

Simplification is at the core of the design. By combing "sails" of different curvature with oblique texture, the facade units were optimized into irregular hyperbolic surfaces. Modeling and parametric design were applied to make repeated comparisons of the unit division solutions. Eventually, a 2mx3m vertical unit that can be lifted for assembly was chosen. Those modular units create a curvy form that emulates the irregular flow of the Yellow River featuring nine major curves. Meanwhile, those components could be manufactured in a standardized way, hence simplifying the construction process and saving cost.

Theater hall. Image © TimeRaw studio

The ingenious hemispherical facade with a concave, reminiscent of the shape of hemispherical nails of traditional Chinese palace gate, creates an exterior that blends both traditional and innovative features. The use of self-supporting U-shaped aluminum tubes and the manual wire drawing and coating techniques, enables those aluminum components to break free from the keel and appear more graceful.

At the same time, the manual wire drawing process created a multi-layered bronze-tone texture. Combined with the cultural context of the Xia and Shang dynasties, the Yellow River and the local opera elements, it presents the building's historical significance both visually and metaphorically.

Interior. Image © Wei Shuxiang

Another creative design is reflected in the water drop-shaped skylights featuring a light-guiding internal surface, which reduces the weight, as well as construction and maintenance cost compared with traditional reflective glazing surface. 

The roof adopts a combination of steel mesh, lightweight steel-frame composite panel and TPO waterproofing membrane, which reduces the construction cost, improves the safety of waterproofing system, and enhances the roof's wind resistance as well as sound insulation performances compared with traditional standing seam steel roofing.

Concert hall. Image © TimeRaw studio

Since its completion, Zhengzhou Grand Theater has received more than 20 provincial and municipal delegations and held numerous events, including 2021 Zhengzhou Spring Festival Gala, opening ceremony of the Yellow River Culture Month, performances by visiting theaters of other provinces, and more. 

It also provided a venue for the ceremony of the 29th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards and various cultural performances, gaining wide recognition from society. In the future, Zhengzhou Grand Theater will strengthen its role in invigorating the performing arts market and make cultural events more accessible to the public. It will continue to enhance the cultural image of the city and itself as a benchmark of local cultural landmarks, so as to contribute to constructing "cultural Zhengzhou, civilized Zhengzhou".

Theater hall. Image © Wei Shuxiang

Opera rehearsal hall. Image © TimeRaw studio

Interior. Image © Wei Shuxiang

Interior. Image © Wei Shuxiang

Building exterior. Image © TimeRaw studio

Building exterior. Image © Wei Shuxiang

Building exterior. Image © Wei Shuxiang

Building exterior. Image © TimeRaw studio

Building exterior. Image © TimeRaw studio

Building exterior. Image © Wei Shuxiang

Aerial view. Image © TimeRaw studio

Masterplan

First floor plan

Third floor plan

Sections

East & West elevations

South & North elevations

Design sketch 

Project facts

Project Name: Zhengzhou Grand Theater

Location: Intersection of Xuesong South Road and Danshui Avenue, Zhongyuan District, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province

Category: Cultural Building

Site Area: 50,942.97 Square Meters

Gross Floor Area: 127,739.67 Square Meters

Design Scope: Architectural Design

Design Company: The Architectural Design and Research Institute of HIT Co., Ltd.

Lead Architect: Mei Hongyuan

Design Team: Mei Hongyuan, Chen Jianfei, Zhao Jian, Wu Xinde, Chen Yu, Bai Yu, Zhang Daiyan, Wang Congfei, Zhang Xiaodong, Wang Zhimin, Zhang Lixin, Yuan Zhenjun

Construction: China Construction Eighth Engineering Division Corp., Ltd.

Video can be watched from here.

Top image © Wei Shuxiang

All images © Wei Shuxiang, TimeRaw studio

All drawings © The Architectural Design and Research Institute of HIT

> via The Architectural Design and Research Institute of HIT