Hainan, China
Thomas Heatherwick has unveiled its plans for a “tropical opera house” in China which will be the practice’s first-ever music venue project.
The studio was chosen following a competition, organized by Haikou Tourism & Culture Investment Holding Group, to envision a landmark building for a new cultural quarter in the island’s capital, Haikou.
Located on the island of Hainan, China’s southernmost province, the Hainan Performing Arts Centre has been inspired by the region’s lush volcanic landscape and will form part of a large-scale master plan to create a new cultural area in the Jiangdong district.
The new center will have a capacity of approximately 3,800 people, combining spaces for arts, learning, rehearsals, and performances.
“Our inspiration came from the volcanic landscape and the costumes, colors, and movement of Hainanese Opera,” said Eliot Postma, Partner and Group Leader at Heatherwick Studio.
“Many opera houses are cut off from their surroundings and only come to life when a performance is on. We wanted to create a space that is an extension of the city and will contribute to life on the street throughout the day.”
“As a result, the canopy shelters a mix of different spaces that form an open-air village, of which the halls are a part. It blends the formality of performance with the informality of island culture, making opera more accessible and offering everyone a space to meet whether you have a ticket or not.”
The new performing arts center will have a capacity of 3,800 people and integrate arts, creative, learning, rehearsal, and performance spaces.
The venue aims to stage international productions that range from large-scale opera, ballet, and musicals to avant-garde drama, fashion, and immersive multimedia performances.
It will form a key component of the Jiangdong cultural quarter, located just east of the historic city center.
The creative process involved a team of makers and engineers who crafted the design through physical and immersive digital modeling alongside rigorous testing and data analysis.
As a result, the project responds intelligently to the local ecology and climate, reducing energy consumption and costs while cooling the environment for visitors and users of the space.
This will be the first opera house the studio has designed.
Construction is expected to start towards the end of 2022.
Project: Hainan Performing Arts Centre
Architects: Heatherwick Studio
Client: Haikou Tourism & Culture Investment Holding Group
