Zaha Hadid Architects has won a competition to expand the International Exhibition Centre in Beijing. The design inspired by traditional Chinese tiled roofs will feature a striped roofscape that spans new exhibition halls, a hotel and a conference venue arranged around a large central courtyard. The new project is intended to support the growth of an already very popular exhibition space.
According to the architects, “As the cultural, academic and civic centre of China, Beijing has also developed into one of the world’s centres of communication and scientific research. With its own station on Line 15 of the Beijing Subway, the International Exhibition Centre is located next to the city’s Capital International Airport and has grown to become an important venue for conferences, trade fairs and industry expos attended by delegates from across the globe.”
The dramatic copper coloured long-span roof is a reference to traditional tubular glazed tiles used in Chinese architecture. The roof will connect the exhibition halls, hotel and conference space in a series interconnecting geometries and allow greater flexibility in the exhibition centre’s use of floor space.
Gardens and shared public spaces will divide the exhibition halls along the east and west of the building. The conference centre and hotel are to be built in the northern part of the site to effectively control guests’ movement and minimise disruption to live events.
Zaha Hadid Architects have also designed the building to make use of a “smart building management system” which can adjust ventilation and reduce energy use. Alongside this system, the architects will create solar technology to collect energy and rainwater collection for use in the gardens and communal areas.
The Beijing International Exhibition Centre is among several projects being implemented in China by Zaha Hadid Architects
PROJECT DATA
Site Area: 63.74 hectares
Height: 45 m
Gross Floor Area above Grade: 438,500 sq.m
(Exhibition Halls: 346,500 sq.m)
(Conference Centre: 44,000 sq.m)
(Hotel: 48,000 sq.m)
(Basements: 205,200 sq.m)
PROJECT TEAM
Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)
Design: Patrik Schumacher
ZHA Competition Project Directors: Satoshi Ohashi, Paulo Flores
ZHA Competition Project Associates: Yang Jingwen, Michail Desyllas
ZHA Competition Project Leader: Di Ding
ZHA Competition Team: Eduardo Camarena, Enoch Kolo, Che-Hung Chien, Felix Amiss, Genci Sulo, I-Chun Lin, Jiaxing Lu, Juan Liu, Mariana Custodio dos Santos, Meng Zhao, Michael On, Nastasja Mitrovic, Nicolas Tornero, Ying Xia, Zheng Xu
