Beijing Performing Arts Centre
China has opened a new performing arts complex in Tongzhou, a historic port on the Grand Canal and the eastern gateway to Beijing. Designed by Perkins&Will’s and Schmidt Hammer Lassen’s combined Shanghai studio, the Beijing Performing Arts Centre anchors Tongzhou’s recently designated cultural district, a collection of major civic projects that also includes a museum, a library, and extensive parklands.
Consisting of three world-class venues—an opera house, a theater, and a concert hall—as well as a multipurpose hall and an outdoor stage, the Beijing Performing Arts Centre will host hundreds of performances each year—everything from traditional Chinese and Western operas to orchestral performances, stage dramas, and dances.
― Chris Hardie, Design Director
Designed to cultivate community while promoting the health and well-being of visitors and the environment, the project embodies the site’s storied history and its bright future in a subtle poetic expression. Conceived as lanterns for the performing arts, the buildings recall Tongzhou’s importance as a commercial shipping and storage hub by referencing the rooflines of the storehouses that formerly lined the canal’s banks and the sails of traditional canal boats.
The forms simultaneously evoke a theater curtain parting at the beginning of a performance. A broad plinth, accessed from all directions by splayed steps and ramps, unifies the complex. This elevated platform extends the buildings’ lobbies into the surrounding forested park, setting up the relationship between the interiors, the landscape, and the Grand Canal.
― James Lu, Regional Director
Constructed in sections since the 5th century B.C., the 2,000-kilometer-long Grand Canal is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It connects Beijing to South China and has been vital to the nation’s culture and economy for millennia.
The Tongzhou District of Beijing has long been an important point of trade along the canal; as goods arrived in Tongzhou from the south, they were sorted and stored in warehouses until needed in Beijing. In a regional reversal, the performing arts complex will now draw Beijing residents and visitors from the city to the canal.
Sustainable features promote human and ecosystem health throughout, earning the project a China Three Star rating for environmental performance.
Air filtration systems and carbon dioxide sensors ensure high indoor air quality, and low-flow fixtures conserve water throughout the buildings.
A dedicated metro station below the park, along with ramps and stairs at ground level, facilitates public access. The subterranean level also includes parking, retail, and a food and beverage complex interspersed with sunken gardens. The plinth is always open as part of the park, providing visitors with inspiring views of Tongzhou and the Grand Canal.
― Chao Chen, Project Director
