Rocco Design Architects Associates Ltd 嚴迅奇建築師事務所

Bao’an Cultural Complex

Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center facade. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates

BAO’AN CULTURAL COMPLEX

Rocco Design Architects Associates

AREA
110000 m²

YEAR
2020

DESIGN TEAM
Rocco Yim , Derrick Tsang, William Tam, Herbert Hung ,Martin Fung, Lucia Cheung, Stephen Chan, Simon Ho, Calvin Chung, Ivy Yung, Zachary Wong , Zhu Yi, Seah lee, Jans Liang, Leo Zhou, Chen Lan, Amber Wang, Yang Shi Pei

LOCATION
Shenzhen, China

PHOTOGRAPHS
Wade Zimmerman

CATEGORY
Cultural Center

Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center facade. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center facade. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates

Overlooking Quanhai Bay and the South China Sea, Bao’an Cultural Complex is a masterplan of buildings that create a new public campus for the city while mediating between the coastal landscape and the more densely developed commercial areas further inland.

Bao’an Cultural Complex
performing arts centre south facade. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center facade. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates

The 110,000-square-meter scheme—which includes a library, cultural centre, as well as a performing arts venue—won an invited international competition.

The Library and the Youth Palace and Cultural Centre were completed as part of the first phase.

Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center facade. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center facade. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center facade. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center facade. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates

An additional performing arts centre is currently under construction and will complete in 2020, finishing the development.

The masterplan places the three buildings aligned on a central axis that extends from the inner city to the coastline.

Bao’an Cultural Complex
library day view. Image Courtesy of Wade Zimmerman
Bao’an Cultural Complex
library day view. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates

A series of public plazas interwoven in between join the structures into a cohesive cultural campus, offer new public gathering spaces overlooking the water and link the city and the coastline with a sequence of indoor and outdoor spaces.

The buildings’ facades are designed as organic forms inspired by Southern Chinese artistic traditions like wood and ivory carving.

Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center facade. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center facade. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
library day view. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
library facade. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates

Each is encased in a perforated skin system that is modulated in different ways, creating a visually unified complex while defining distinct identities for the three structures.

Closest to the water is the Library, a 31,853-square-meter structure that holds reading areas, stacks, administration facilities, and museums and exhibitions hall.

Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center atrium. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
performing arts centre interior. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates

A soaring, 20-meter tall linear atrium extends the landscaped public plaza to the interior of the building and offers a public gathering place at the heart of the complex.

Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center interior. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
performing arts centre interior. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates

Beyond the Library is the 11,316-square-meter Youth Palace and Cultural & Art Centre.

Bao’an Cultural Complex
library interior. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
library interior. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
library interior. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates

The building is conceived as two separate structures that radiate from a central outdoor courtyard and amphitheater.

One wing houses youth-centered programming like technology rooms and children’s art centres; the other houses performance spaces, art studios, and galleries.

Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center interio. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
library interior. Image Courtesy of Wade Zimmerman

The central courtyard and amphitheater act as a social core that connects the two wings and introduces natural light and ventilation to them both.

Bao’an Cultural Complex
performing arts centre auditorium. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
performing arts centre multifunction hall. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates

The 20,660-square-meter Performance Centre, currently under construction, defines the southern edge of the cultural complex where the building rises to greet the Bay.

Retail and restaurants lining the base activate the street and connect the building with the city, while a grand staircase ushers pedestrians into the 1500-seat performance hall.

Bao’an Cultural Complex
library facade night view. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
performing arts centre main entrace. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates

The building also includes a smaller, 600-seat venue, and a structure tilted 15-degrees off the vertical provides public access to large rehearsal halls above the fly-tower with a view of the Bay and beyond.

Baoan is a new coastal urban centre in Shenzhen. The architecture of the new Cultural Complex embodies new aspirations and buoyancy.

Bao’an Cultural Complex
library night view. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates
Bao’an Cultural Complex
library night view. Image Courtesy of Wade Zimmerman

The ensemble of individual buildings and open spaces, acting as a group, will become more than the sum of their parts and activate the area in a new cultural heart.


Bao’an Cultural Complex
library GF plan
Bao’an Cultural Complex
library 1F plan
Bao’an Cultural Complex
performing arts centre GF plan
Bao’an Cultural Complex
performing arts centre 1F plan
Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center GF plan
Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center 1F plan


Bao’an Cultural Complex
youth center section
Bao’an Cultural Complex
performing arts centre section
Bao’an Cultural Complex
library section


Bao’an Cultural Complex
Bao'an cultural complex sketch


Bao’an Cultural Complex
Bao'an cultural complex location
Bao’an Cultural Complex
Bao'an cultural complex site plan
Bao’an Cultural Complex
library elevations
Bao’an Cultural Complex
performing arts centre aerial view. Image Courtesy of Rocco Design Architects Associates

Rocco Design Architects Associates Ltd 嚴迅奇建築師事務所
T +852 2528 0128 F +852 252 92135
Rocco Design Architects Associates Ltd 嚴迅奇建築師事務所
32F, Citicorp Centre 18 Whitfield Road North Point, Hong Kong 香港北角威菲路道萬國寶通中心32樓