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Neri&Hu brings "museum-like quality" into the interior of the New Bund 31 Performing Arts Center
China Architecture News - Sep 27, 2024 - 12:46 401 views
Shanghai-based design and research office Neri&Hu has brought a "museum-like quality" into the interior of the New Bund 31 Performing Arts Center in Shanghai, China.
Named New Bund 31 Performing Arts Center, the 17,580-square-metre building is located in the Qiantan area, also known as The New Bund. This area is rapidly developing and on track to become Shanghai’s next business district after Lujiazui.
Positioned to become an architectural landmark and cultural destination for the community, the New Bund 31 Performing Arts Center is situated among a cluster of shiny new skyscrapers along the Huangpu River. It houses a grand theater and a black box performance space.
"The Arena," a modern take on the classical archetype, is Neri&Hu's interior design concept for the project. A sequence of arches defines the grand theater, its lobby concourse, and the circulation paths that surround it.
The five-story atrium area, where the entire height of stacked layers of arches is visible, creates a powerful impression.
Visitors' gaze is drawn up and down, through the spaces, from any given angle; guests adopt a dual role, that of spectator and performer, so that the atrium itself becomes another stage. Warm oak covers the entire performance space in the 2,500-seat grand theater.
The recurring arch motif here echoes the arena concept and also satisfies the theater's acoustic requirements.
Meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) activities are arranged in the multipurpose black box exhibition space. The primary cladding material of the design is blackened stainless steel, which plays on the literal idea of a "black box."
The "light box" escalator, on the other hand, travels through the lobby of the black box and is completely composed of glass blocks, giving guests the impression that they are passing through a transparent tunnel.
The performing arts center's other support areas also feature distinctive designs, giving each one its own special characteristics. Examples include the VIP lounge made of perforated bricks, the lift cabs with curved copper, and the bronze-clad toilets.
Through the use of tactile materials and iconic forms, Neri&Hu hopes to inject a museum-like quality into the design of the entertainment space, breaking away from the typical flash and noise.
"The Arena" transforms into a place where individuals are welcome to experience intellectual challenges in addition to visual and auditory stimulation.
L1 Floor Plan
L2 Mezzanine Floor Plan
L2 Floor Plan
L3 Floor Plan
L4 Floor Plan
L5 Floor Plan
Neri&Hu built a residential apartment that brings "a timeless aesthetic" to a Taipei neighborhood in Taiwan.
In addition, the firm created a cafe in Shanghai that evokes the feeling of a home for coffee roaster brand Blue Bottle Coffee, and designed a pair of stores that feature a wooden house and a concrete dwelling inside the structures.
Project facts
Project name: New Bund 31 Performing Arts Center
Interior architecture and design: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
Product design: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
Graphic design: Neri&Hu Design and Research Office
Location: Shanghai, China
Date of Completion: October 2023
Client: Shun Tak Holdings (Hong Kong) and Lujiazui Group (Shanghai)
Gross area: 17,580m2
Partners-in-charge: Lyndon Neri, Rossana Hu
Associate Director-in-charge: Ziyi Cao
Associate-in-charge: Fong Win Huang
Design team: Christine Chang, Chaofu Yeh, Siyu Chen, Sela Lim, Alexander Goh, Kate Hwang, Nicolas Fardet, Kany Liu, Ath Supornchai, Greg Wu, Becky Zhang, Luna Hong, Elan Tao, Zhikang Wang, Jingyi Bi, Guanlin Lee, Kathy Hu, Jinlong Li, Danyan Jin, Cheri Lee, Shiqi Zhang, Davis Butner, Vanessa Wu, Elis Huang.
Consultants:
Architect: Palmer & Turner Consultants
Curtain Wall Consultant: Shanghai Zhulian Construction Engineering Co., Ltd.
Structural Consultant: Arup
MEP Consultant: China Team Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd. Shanghai Branch
Landscape Consultant: East China Architectural Design & Research Institute
Construction PM: AECOM Ltd
Theater Planning & Design: Theatre Projects
Theater PM: Le Group
LDI: Shanghai TIANHUA Architecture Planning & Engineering Ltd.
Acoustic Consultant: SMW (Shanghai) Business Consulting Co., Ltd
Art Consultant: Art Front Consultant (Shanghai) Co., Ltd
Interior LDI: Shanghai Modern Architectural Decoration Environmental Design Research Institute Co., Ltd.
Interior Lighting: Branston Partnership Inc.
Kitchen Consultant: CKP Kitchen Design Consultant Co., Ltd.
Signage Consultant: Shanghai Saichi Logo Design Engineering Co., Ltd.
QS: Arcadis
Contractors:
Contractor (GC): Shanghai Construction No.4(Group) Co., Ltd
Curtain Wall: Wuxi Hengshang Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd
Hall A Interior: Shanghai Dahua Decoration Engineering Co., Ltd
Hall B Interior: Shanghai Construction Decoration (Group) Co., Ltd
Theater and Hall B Chairs Including Stage Equipment: Dafeng Industrial Co., Ltd
All images © Pedro Pegenaute.
All drawings © Neri&Hu Design and Research Office.