Zaha Hadid Architects has completed the Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre in China, echoing "the chevron patterns of migratory bird" flying in formation over southern China.

The 100,078-square-metre centre, situated at the heart of Jinwan district’s Western Ecological New Town, which makes the heart of Aviation New City, an urbanisation with a built area of 4.78 million square meters housing 100,000 residents. 

The area incorporates new civic, cultural, academic and commercial infrastructure within Zhuhai’s Jinwan district.

Video by Kevin Zhen, courtesy of ZHA

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

Zaha Hadid Architects developed a building that responds different functional requirements that represent each different venue. 

Reaching at 35 meters at maximum height, the building integrates three distinct cultural institutions for the city: a Performing Arts Centre with a 1200-seat Grand Theatre and a 500-retractable-seat multifunctional Black Box theatre - an interactive Science Centre and an Art Museum.

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

Zaha Hadid Architects revealed its conceptual plans in 2021, and the building was completed in two years.

"Each venue within the Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Arts Centre incorporates unique characteristics that create differing visitor experiences, yet all are united by a coherent formal and structural logic that spans 170 meters wide from east to west and 270 meters long from north to south," said Zaha Hadid Architects. 

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

The building was arranged symmetrically around a central axis, while the two larger and two smaller venues are connected by a central plaza that serves as a shared external foyer to all of the cultural institutions. 

The team used glazed walls facing this courtyard to allow visitors to determine the individuality and character of each venue. 

While the 1200-seat Grand Theatre and Art Museum are finished in a light palate of materials, the 500-retractable-seat multifunctional Black Box Theatre and Science Centre are composed in darker materials.

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

Each venue was represented by the latticed steel canopies that were configured through repetition, symmetry and scale variation. 

This arrangement resulted in a composition of related elements that respond to the different functional requirements of each building. 

"This repetition of the self-supporting and self-stabilising roof modules optimised pre-fabrication, pre-assembly and the use of modular construction," ZHA explained.

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

"Roof structure unites the different venues" 

The distinctive design element of the building is its roof structure that unites the different venues. The roof system is made up of a network of reticulated shells that envelop the four wings of the centre. 

"Interconnecting bridges and voids create a multi-layered public plaza at the heart of the centre with views to the interiors as well as to the surrounding promenades with their cafés, restaurants and educational facilities," the firm explained. 

"The design optimizes intuitive navigation with natural light in all public areas to enhance connectivity; creating engaging civic spaces for local residents to enjoy throughout the day and evening."

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

"The Grand Theatre’s interior continues the composition of the centre’s external roof canopy with the location and angle of ceiling panels optimised as sound reflectors," the office continued. 

Moreover, the ZHA team added sound absorbing surfaces to the Grand Theatre to meet the highest acoustic standards required for local, national and international performances.

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

On the other hand, the Art Museum is adapted according to the chevron geometries of the roof to frame the main atrium. Thanks to this geometry, a plenty of natural light enter into the museum while at the same time creating a continuous vertical surface to display artworks. 

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

The team arranged an internal gallery, storage and administrative spaces located behind this vertical division. 

The key feature of the museum is a continuous white "ribbon" that defines museum’s vertical circulation and exhibition route. 

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

On the other hand, the Science Centre’s interior also reinterprets the geometry of the centre’s roof to showcase scientific innovation with interactive exhibits that inspire curiosity and learning. 

The Science Centre’s lecture hall is designed for the centre’s programme of public demonstrations of scientific experiments and discovery.

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre’s podium defines an island within ZhongXin Lake. 

The team added pedestrian ramps and tunnels to invite visitors to cross the lake’s surface to the podium’s central public plaza where footbridges connect through voids to each venue. 

Glazed façades sheltered by the modular roof canopy provide transparency and welcome the local community onto lakeside boardwalks and plazas beneath the sweeping roof structure. Further, it features an external amphitheatre on the west side of the centre allows for outdoor performances and activities.

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

The centre was built by using concrete, and the centre consists of five structurally separate buildings, in which each has its own self-supporting external steel canopy. 

Zaha Hadid Architects stated that "the building is supported by only 22 columns and spanning a total of 270m x 170m, these free-formed steel roof canopies are composed of symmetrical geometries to enable their modular, repetitive structures to be fabricated off-site and assembled from only two different column types." 

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

"The centre’s landscaping and surrounding lake are designed as integral elements within Zhuhai’s ‘sponge city’ initiative that targets the natural permeation, storage and re-use of at least 70 per cent of the city’s rainwater using aquatic flora and fauna to naturally filter contaminants."

Humidity and soil-moisture sensors were integrated within the landscaping’s irrigation system control aiming to reduce water consumption. 

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

Since the building is located within the subtropical climate of coastal southern China, the team implemented the double-insulated glazing for the building’s envelope. Its envelope was optimized for a thermal performance and protected by the latticed roof canopy which incorporates perforated aluminium panels for external solar shading. 

"The perforations within the panels vary in size to allow differing degrees of sunlight within the centre’s interior spaces in accordance to their programming requirements, orientation and solar gain. At night, this roof canopy bathes the centre in soft reflected light," said the office.

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

The interior air quality of the building and energy consumption are controlled by intelligent control systems that will automatically adjust the centre’s interior environments for optimal comfort and energy reduction. 

Additionally, waste heat recovery will be used to meet the centre’s hot water demand with water-saving appliances connected to the centre’s water recycling system. 

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

The building was designed to achieve the highest tiers of China’s Green Building Evaluation Standards. Moreover, the firm prioritized the selection and procurement of the centre’s structural components by choosing recycled steel, aggregates and other component materials.

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

Image © Virgile Simon Bertrand

Image © Seilao Jiong

Image © Seilao Jiong

Image © Seilao Jiong

Image © CAT-OPTOGRAM STUDIO

Image © CAT-OPTOGRAM STUDIO

Image © CAT-OPTOGRAM STUDIO

Image © Yipeng Lyu

Roof plan

Roof plan close

Basement Plan 2

Basement Plan 1

Ground floor plan

Floor Plan 2

Floor Plan 3 

Sections AB

Sections CD

North and West elevations

South and East elevations

Recently, Zaha Hadid Architects won an international design competition to build a new harbourside cultural district in Sanya, China. ZHA's new Science Centre broken ground at the site adjacent to the Chinese Garden MRT station in Singapore. 

The firm also completed a new science fiction museum overlooking the Jingrong Lake in Chengdu, China.

Project facts

Project name: Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre

Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)
ZHA Design Principal: Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher
ZHA Project Directors: Satoshi Ohashi, Charles Walker
ZHA Project Associate Directors: Lydia Kim, Yang Jingwen
ZHA Project Associates: Mei-Ling Lin, Aurora Santana (SD)
ZHA Project Leads: Mei-Ling Lin, Elena Scripelliti
ZHA Project Core Team: Armando Bussey, Reza Karimi, Julian Lin
ZHA Project CA Team: Qi Cao, Kai-Jui Tsao, Mei-Ling Lin, Juan Liu, Yuling Ma, Feifei Fan

ZHA Project Team: Armando Bussey, Marius Cernica, Grace Chung, Nelli Denisova, Xuexin Duan, Kaloyan Erevinov, Nassim Eshaghi, Kate Hunter, Yang Jingwen, Reza Karimi, Ben Kikkawa, Lydia Kim, Julian Lin, Mei-Ling Lin, Valeria Mazzilli, Sareh Mirseyed Nazari, Massimo Napoleoni, Satoshi Ohashi, Yevgeniya Pozigun, Qi Cao, Qiuyu Zhao, Aurora Santana, Hannes Schafelner, Michael Sims, Patrik Schumacher, Sharan Sundar, Maria Touloupou, Chao Wei, Charles Walker, Kai-Jui Tsao, Yuling Ma, Feifei Fan.

ZHA Competition Team: Armando Bussey, Clara Martins, Cristiano Ceccato, Charles Walker, Ed Gaskin, Filippo Nassetti, Jinqi Huang, Juan Liu, Lydia Kim, Julian Lin, Satoshi Ohashi, Paulo Flores, Harry Spraiter, Patrick Schumacher, Houzhe Xu, Simon Yu.

GFA below ground: 51,646m2

GFA above ground: 48,432m2

Height: 35m

Consultants

Local Design Institute: Beijing Institute of Architecture & Design South China Centre
Structural Consultant: Beijing Institute of Architecture & Design South China Centre
Green Building Consultant: Guangdong JORJUN Green Building Technology
BIM Consultant: Beijing BIMTechnologie
Façade Consultant: Zhuhai City Honghai Curtain Wall
Lighting Consultant: Shenzhen Global Lighting Technology
Landscape Consultant: Beijing Institute of Architecture & Design (South China Centre)
Theater Consultant: Shanghai DeYi Engineering Technology
Signage Consultant: W&T Design
Fire Consultant: Beijing Institute of Architecture & Design (South China Centre)
Amplify Consultant: Radio, Film & TV Design and Research Institute
Acoustic Consultant: East China Architectural Design & Research Institute (Acoustic & Theatre Special Design & Research Division)
Interior Consultant: Shenzhen Z&F Culture Construction

Contractors
General Contractor: MCC City Investment Holding
Façade Contractor: Shenzhen Sanxin Technology Development
Landscape Contractor: Zhuhai Wuyue Landscape Engineering
Interior Contractor: Shenzhen Weiye Decoration Group

Top image in the article © CAT OPTOGRAM STUDIO.

Images © Virgile Simon Bertrand, CAT OPTOGRAM STUDIO, Seilao Jiong, Yipeng Lyu. 

> via ZHA 

art centre centre Zaha Hadid Architects Zhuhai