On World Opera Day, SHL Architects and Perkins & Will are very happy to share that the Beijing City Sub-Center Theatre project "Cultural Granary", which we jointly designed, is now topped out! The theater is located in the urban green heart forest park in Tongzhou, Beijing, along the northern end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, a "World Cultural Heritage".
In celebration of World Opera Day, Danish architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and global firm Perkins&Will reveal designs for the new Beijing Green Heart Grand Theatre, nested in the lush sub-center of Beijing, China.
The theater building unfolds along the winding Grand Canal, which will provide citizens and tourists with a diversified and open communication platform and the ultimate professional performance space, and once again awaken the bustling scenery of the past on both sides of the Grand Canal.
Sitting along the banks of the UNESCO Heritage listed site, the project desires to revive the bustling waterfront and provide spaces for valuable interactions and world-class performances.
The three building volumes that make up the theater are connected by a shared platform layer, including the Opera House, the Drama Hall, and the Concert Hall. The sculptural body blends the local history and cultural heritage of Tongzhou' local water transport: the ancient Tongzhou granary was once responsible for storing grain for the capital, and the future theater will continuously provide spiritual food for the city.
Connected by a platform, the three buildings each house a different type of performance venue, such as a Concert Hall, Opera House and Playhouse . The project weaves the history and cultural tapestry of the site into new forms by sculpting monolithic volumes which resemble historical storehouses that once occupied the banks of the Grand Canal as it leads into the Chinese capital.
"Since ancient times, Tongzhou has been the main transportation route between the north and the south and an important gateway to Beijing. All kinds of supplies from the south will be transited in Tongzhou before entering Beijing, where they are sorted and stored in large warehouses, ready to be transported to the capital when needed. Chris Hardie, Director and Design Director of SHL Architects and Perkins & Will, said: "In the new space-time space, we will build a vessel of canal spirit and culture in an architectural way, attracting citizens and tourists to this new cultural destination. ”
Chris Hardie, Principal and Design Director for Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and Perkins&Will, states, “The Tongzhou District of Beijing was an important point of trade along the Grand Canal. As goods came from the south up into Beijing they were sorted and stored in large storehouse structures ready to be moved when required downtown. Now in a kind of regional reversal we recreate these as containers of culture drawing the citizens of Beijing out to this new cultural destination.”
Beijing City Sub-Center Theatre "Cultural Granary" is one of many collaborative projects after the formal alliance between SHL Architects and Perkins & Will. The project, which won an international competition in 2018, is currently structure-capped and is expected to open to the public in 2023.
The project is one of many high profile wins produced by the combined studio of Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects and Perkins&Will. Won in international competition in 2018, the Grand Theatre will welcome its first visitors in 2023.
Source, Copyright: SHL Architects