PES - Arkkitehdit, Oy

Wuxi Grand Theatre

Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila

WUXI GRAND THEATRE 

PES-Architects

ARCHITECTS
PES-Architects

MANUFACTURERS
RHEINZINK

PHOTOGRAPHS
Pan Weijun, Jussi Tiainen, Kari Palsila, Martin Lukasczyk

AREA
78000.0 m²

YEAR
2012

LOCATION
China

CATEGORY
Theater

Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila
Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila

Text description provided by architect.

In 2008, PES-Architects won the first prize in the invited international architectural competition for Wuxi Grand Theatre. The other competitors were established and well-known practices from Germany, France, Japan and Denmark.

Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila
Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila

The main idea of Wuxi Grand Theatre is based on its location. The manmade peninsula on the northern shore area of Taihu Lake and the highway bridge nearby make this location comparable to that of Sydney Opera House.

Due to this location the building is an impressive landmark, rising up to a total height of 50 meters like a big sculpture from the terraced base. Its eight gigantic roof wings stretch far over the facades, giving the building a character of a butterfly, while protecting the building from the heat of the sun.

Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila
Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila

The architectural concept is unique: inside the steel wings are thousands of LED lights, which make it possible to change the colour of the wings according to the character of the performances. This is possible, because the underside of the wings is covered by perforated aluminium panels.

Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila
Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila

Another special feature is the “forest” of 50 light columns, each 9 meter high, which start from the main entrance square, support the roof of the central lobby and continue outside of the lakeside entrance into the lake.

Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila
Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila

There is a strong Chinese feature that runs throughout the whole building: the large scale use of bamboo which is both a traditional and a modern Chinese material.

Recently new methods for the production and use of bamboo have made it possible to cover the Main Opera Auditorium with over fifteen thousand solid bamboo blocks, all individually shaped according to acoustic needs and architectural image.

There is also a material with a Finnish character: almost twenty thousand specially designed glass bricks cover the curved wall of the opera auditorium in the lakeside lobby. Finnish nature, lakes and ice, were the architectural inspiration.

Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila
Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila
Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila
Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila
Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila

Earlier references of PES-Architects international projects include St Mary’s Concert Hall in Germany and Helsinki-Vantaa Airport in Finland. In China, a mix-use 192m high-rise building in is currently under construction in the city of Chengdu, the result of a first prize in an international architectural competition in 2009.

To emphasize the experience of being 8 years in China design and construction market, PES-Architects in Autumn 2011 opened the Chinese design company PES-Architects Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.

Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila


Wuxi Grand Theatre
Wuxi Grand Theatre
© Kari Palsila


Wuxi Grand Theatre
Elevation
Wuxi Grand Theatre
Plan


Wuxi Grand Theatre
Section
Wuxi Grand Theatre
Section


Wuxi Grand Theatre
Diagram
Wuxi Grand Theatre
Detail

PES - Arkkitehdit, Oy
T +358 9 3417340
PES - Arkkitehdit, Oy
Tynnyrintekijänkatu 1c, 00580 Helsinki, Finland