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The curtain has lifted on the New Bund 31 Performing Arts Center, a new cultural jewel in Shanghai that will host concerts, theater, dance, and many other international events.
Standing on the bank of the Huangpu River and surrounded by new skyscrapers, the facility is in the rapidly developing Qiantan district. Also known as New Bund, Qiantan is set to become a major commercial district, second only to Lujiazui. A new architectural landmark and cultural hub for the local community, the complex includes both a main stage and a black box theater.
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New Bund 31 invites visitors to experience its spaces from every perspective, making them feel like both observers and participants. The atrium transforms into a stage, while the 2500-seat theater wraps audiences in the warmth of oak.
Neri&Hu approached the project as a contemporary interpretation of a classical arena, aiming to give a museum-like quality to its spaces with tactile materials and archetypal forms. Its circulation areas and lobby concourse feature a series of arches with strong visual impact, especially in the five-story atrium, which especially showcases these overlapping arches. This arch motif appears again inside the theater, where it also plays a role in improving acoustics.
The black box theater is a multi-use facility intended for MICE events (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions). The design team approached it as a literal black box, with blackened stainless steel as the main finish. In contrast, a light box, which runs through the atrium of the black box, is entirely glass, giving visitors the sensation of walking through a crystal tunnel.
Ancillary spaces also feature distinctive designs. From the bronze-clad bathrooms to the rounded copper elevator cars, and perforated brick VIP lounge, each space is unique.
>>> Discover West Bund Dome Art Center, designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen
Location: Shanghai
Completion: 2023
Gross Floor area: 17,580 sqm
Client: Shun Tak Holdings and Lujiazui Group
Interior Design: Neri&Hu Research and Design Office
Partners-in-charge: Lyndon Neri, Rossana Hu
Associate Director-in-charge: Ziyi Cao
Associate-in-charge: Fong Win Huang
New Bund 31 Architect: P&T Group
General Contractor: Shanghai Construction No.4(Group) Co.
Consultants
Curtain Wall: Shanghai Zhulian Construction Engineering Co.
Structural: Arup
MEP: China Team Engineering Consulting Co., Shanghai Branch
Landscape: East China Architectural Design & Research Institute
Construction Project Manager: AECOM
Theater Planning & Design: Theatre Projects
Theater Project Manager: Le Group
Local Design Institute: Shanghai TIANHUA Architecture Planning & Engineering Ltd.
Acoustics: SMW (Shanghai) Business Consulting Co.
Art: Art Front Consultant (Shanghai) Co.
Interior Local Design Institute: Shanghai Modern Architectural Decoration Environmental Design Research Institute Co., Ltd.
Interior Lighting: Branston Partnership
Kitchen: CKP Kitchen Design Consultant Co.
Wayfinding: Shanghai Saichi Logo Design Engineering Co.
Quantity Surveyor: Arcadis
Photography by Pedro Pegenaute, courtesy of Neri&Hu
