Nanjing Sports, Theater, and Culture Center
The City of Nanjing has played a prominent role throughout China’s history and is one of the country’s great contemporary cities. Like many places across Asia, rapid growth has meant expedited urbanization. The Pukou District, across the Yangtze River from city center is no different. What once was forests and farms has been transformed into the Cross-Strait Technology Industrial Park.
As part of this development, an expansive Sports and Culture Center was designed to accommodate the growing community and provide amenities that are fundamental to dense urban living. Conceptually, the building takes inspiration from four elements that embody the spirit of Nanjing: the Mountains, Water, Forests, and Wall. These points of engagement reflect the historical and contemporary values of residents.
The four main features — theater, arena, fitness center, and cultural hall — occupy the corners of the site and free up space for an internal plaza that visually pulls the adjacent man-made river into the site. At ground level, each building is visually open, connecting the various programs and enriching the user experience. Atop the open base sits a frosted volume that appears to float effortlessly, humanizing the scale of the buildings, a much-needed approach in the Chinese context.
Encircling the four buildings is a contemporary interpretation of the Ming Great Wall. Access to and from, through and above, provides a diversified opportunity to engage with each building in the complex while providing moments of respite to take in spectacular views of the interior plaza and surrounding region. Above all, the Cross-Strait Sports and Culture Center works to provide a forward looking representation of a contemporary country while paying homage to a rich past.
Client: U+ Design Partners/City of Nanjing
Program: Theater, arena, fitness center, and cultural hall
Size: 1.5 million GSF / 1 million Net SF
The open ground level connects interior activity to exterior plazas and landscaping. Permeable paving and bioswales aim to responsibly and sustainably manage stormwater.
The Center boasts an
- 800-seat performance space
- Flexible, adaptable-small performances to large productions
- Catalyst for developing Industrial District
- Arena, fitness center, cultural hall, and theater, occupy the corners of the site and free up space for an internal plaza
- Visually open, connecting the various programs and enriching the user experience
Dynamic interior circulation connects the ground level to a multi-purpose 800-seat theater.