Construction of the Yidan Center in Shenzhen has reached its full height. The Chen Yidan Foundation will be housed at the Yidan Center, a hub for cooperation and convergence, as it works to advance educational innovation and lifelong learning.

The Yidan Center, the worldwide headquarters of the esteemed Yidan Prize, will consist of comprehensive facilities for academic research, cultural events, and exhibitions. Together with the adjacent Qianhai Museum, the Yidan Center will define Shenzhen’s new cultural quarter.

Yidan Centre. Render by Atchain

Established by Dr Charles Chen Yidan (core founder of the global technology company Tencent), Chen Yidan Foundation strives for the diversification of education ecosystems to achieve sustainable growth and development. Founding the Yidan Prize in 2016 to recognise the most innovative minds in educational research and practice, Dr. Yidan is building a global community dedicated to improving the quality of education around the world.

Yidan Centre. Render by Atchain

The new Yidan Center will house research and practice platforms that support lifelong learning and innovations in education by combining the resources of the Yidan Prize's global network with the Chen Yidan Foundation's in-depth understanding of the education sector. 

Additionally, the center will offer a supportive atmosphere for a larger community of organizations and institutions, encouraging their development and working together to create an efficient ecosystem that will influence education in the twenty-first century. 

As the new international headquarters of the Yidan Prize, the Yidan Center will offer a varied program of cultural events, exhibitions and activities for its community in China and its partners across the globe.

Yidan Centre. Render by Atchain

The Yidan Center will serve as the center of the learning-oriented community YiPai, offering a wide variety of educational opportunities and encouraging lifelong learning and growth. YiPai, which is located on the building's lower levels, will foster a friendly and inclusive atmosphere for individuals of all ages and backgrounds. 

Yidan Centre. Render by Atchain

The Yidan Center, which is modeled after Shenzhen's status as a global center of innovation and discovery, is inspired by the valleys and canyons of the surrounding mountainous landscapes that have been utilized as routes of travel and communication for millennia. Shenzhen has grown to be one of the most vibrant cities in the world, welcoming trailblazing scientists, inventors, and scholars from all over the world.

Yidan Centre. Render by Atchain

The historic 165,815-square-meter Yidan Center, along with the nearby Qianhai Museum, will establish a significant new cultural hub for the city. 

The Yidan Center's architecture blurs the lines between indoor and outdoor spaces by including terraces and balconies with views of a central outdoor "canyon."

Yidan Centre. Photography by Kris Provoost

With views of the geologic architectural formations above, verdant gardens lead visitors from the nearby streets to the base of the center's "canyon." 

Visitors to these indoor public areas can see the center's architecture above thanks to a big oculus skylight at the base of the "canyon," which floods the interiors below with natural light.

YIdan Center. Photography by Xue Liang

The center's outside louvres create efficient solar shading that allows natural light deep within the interiors while providing panoramic views of Qianhai Bay. It was designed to meet the highest three-star level of China's National Green Building Program and earn LEED Gold certification. Additionally, these louvres accentuate the architecture's striated, geological shapes.

YIdan Center. Photography by ZHA

The Yidan Center's façade, which combines insulated double-glazed units with hybrid natural ventilation to ensure optimal thermal efficiency and improved visibility, has been conceived as a dynamic filter to convey the center's spirit of transparency and knowledge exchange. In the humid subtropical environment of southern China, the center's variable air volume (VAV) system guarantees interior comfort and energy savings. 

YIdan Center. Photography by Xue Liang

The center's architecture and grounds include rainwater collection and storage for future use, and photovoltaic panels are incorporated into the design to further minimize energy and water demand from the municipal networks.

YIdan Center. Photography by ZHA

YIdan Center. Photography by Xue Liang

Recently, Zaha Hadid Architects unveiled plans for El Bulto, the transormation of the city's industrial port into a new residential neighborhood with cultural and recreational amenities. In addition, Zaha Hadid Architects, Cox Architecture and Woods Bagot completed the Western Sydney International Airport in Sydney, Australia. Moreover, Zaha Hadid Architects revealed plans for a masterplan, resembling "wind-swept desert dunes" in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Project facts

Architects: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)

ZHA Team
ZHA Principal: Patrik Schumacher
ZHA Project Director: Manuela Gatto
ZHA Project Associate Director: Shao-wei Huang
ZHA Project Associate: Houzhe Xu, Massimo Napoleoni
ZHA Technical Coordination: Kutbuddin Nadiadi, Takehiko Iseki, Yevgeniya Pozigun
ZHA Project Team: Armando Bussey, Besan Abudayah, Bowen Miao, Catherine McCann, Haohao Chen, Haoyue Zhang, Ignacio Fernandez De Castro, Jessica Wang, Jonathan Zisser, Jose Pareja Gomez, John Simpson, Kate Hunter, Laizhen Wu, Marco Vanucci, Maria Avrami, Mauro Sabiu, Nelli Denisova, Ningxin Zheng, Othmane Kandri, Sandi Nurpeissova, Thomas Bagnoli, Veronica Erspamer, Yaniv Hatiel Pini, Yun Yu Huang, Zixin Ye, Ziyuan Gao

ZHA Competition Team
ZHA Project Director: Manuela Gatto, Paulo Flores
ZHA Project Associate: Yevgeniya Pozigun
ZHA Competition Team: Aiste Dzikaraite, Ben Kikkawa, Berkin Islam, Besan Abudayah, Bogdan Zaha, Carolina Lopez-Blanco, Catherine McCann, Evgeniya Yatsyuk, Houzhe Xu, Igor Pantic, Jessica Wang, Jinqi Huang, Jose Pareja Gomez, Karoly Markos, Kate Hunter, Kutbuddin Nadiadi, Li Jin, Marco Vanucci, Marko Margeta, Martin Gsandtner, Nelli Denisova, Olga Yatsyuk, Rachelle Spiteri, Sven Torres, Taras Kashko, Vincent Yeung
ZHA Sustainability team: Carlos Bausa Martinez, Aditya Ambare, Aleksander Mastalski
ZHA Interior team: Kar Hwa Ho, Bidisha Sinha, Afsoon Eshaghi, Anna Adebayo, Aysu Aysoy, Chhavi Mehta, Sonia Renehan
ZHA Workplace planning team: Ulrich Blum, Lorena Espaillat Bencosme, Philipp Siedler
ZHA Graphic Designer: Alex Turner

Consultants
Local Design Institute: Shenzhen General Institute of Architectural Design and Research
Façade consultant: China Construction & Architecture Technology
Landscape consultant: DDON
Acoustics and venue consultant: Arup International Consultants (Shanghai)
Sustainability consultant: Shenzhen Institute of Building Research
Façade maintenance: Ling Bang Building Engineering Technology Consulting
Project management: Shanghai K&Z construction project management
Structure and MEP consultant: Meinhardt

The top image in the article: Yidan Centre. Render by Atchain. 

> via ZHA 

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