Brearley Architects & Urbanists

Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center

Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu

SHANGHAI HONGQIAO PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

BAU

ARCHITECTS
BAU

LOCATION 
Changning, China

CATEGORY
Cinema, Renovation

AREA
14300 m²

YEAR
2016

PHOTOGRAPHS
He Shu

MANUFACTURERS
VMZINC, Shanghai Boji Intelligent Curtain Wall Co., Ltd., Shanghai Xiaonuo Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., Shanghai Shipu Architectural Decoration Design Co., Ltd., Henghao International (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

LANDSCAPE TEAM
Robin Armstrong, Li Luo, Yongqing Liang, Qi Cheng

CONTRACTOR
Jiangsu Guangyu Construction Group

3 D RENDERING
BAU

CLIENT
Shanghai Changning Cultural Bureau

CINEMA TECH
Shanghai Paradise CineTech Co., Ltd.

THEATER STAGE TECH
Zhejiang Dafeng Industry Co., Ltd.

ACOUSTIC DESIGN & CONSULTANT
Shanghai Research Institute of Building Science Group

DOCUMENTING ARCHITECT AND ENGINEER
Qingdao Times Architectural Design Co., Ltd

INTERIOR ARCHITECT
BAU + Shanghai Jianke Architectural Design Institute Co., Ltd

Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu

HIGHLY VISIBLE

The project is located in Tianshan Road, the new commercial boulevard in Hongqiao, one of Shanghai’s high activity districts.

It is surrounded by brightly lit shopping malls built this century.

Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu

This development replaces and expands on the existing state run cinema centre on the site.

The project was the subject of three rounds of invited competition over 5 years before BAU was contracted to design the project. 

Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu

EXPOSURE TO DIFFERENCE

This project includes both traditional and modern programs of mass entertainment: theatre (1000 seats) and cinema (seven of various capacities).

Usually seen as separate programs and increasingly supported by distinctly different user groups, this project presents the opportunity for the two different programs and variable patrons to engage.

Articulating the programs as separate objects and linking them via an enclosed plaza creates an in-between-space in which the differences between the programs are enhanced,

Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu

the potential for cross-patronage is maximised, and cross-fertilisation between the performing arts is encouraged.

Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu

AN ASSEMBLAGE OF DIFFERENCE

The theatre is developed as a stone monolith (a traditional material for a traditional program) with rounded articulation and a theatrical staircase.

Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu

The enclosed plaza or mixing-lobby has ticket offices, café, flexible exhibition and event space, and open views to the external plaza and streetscape, also designed by BAU.

The cinemas are an ensemble of stacked metal boxes (a 20th Century material for a 20th Century program), the largest of which is suspended above the street corner.

Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
© He Shu

Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
Courtesy of BAU
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
analysis diagram


Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
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Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
south elevation
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
north elevation
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
west elevation
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
east elevation


Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
Mezzenine floor plan
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
1F plan
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
2F plan
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
3F plan
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
4F plan
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
roof plan
Shanghai Hongqiao Performing Arts Center
site plan

Brearley Architects & Urbanists
T +61 3 95372551
Brearley Architects & Urbanists
117-119 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, Victoria 3182, Australia