PROJECTS

STUDIO

DESCRIPTION DETAILS

The studio is designing a tropical opera house for the island province of Hainan at the southernmost point of China.

The competition, organised by Haikou Tourism & Culture Investment Holding Group, called for a new cultural landmark with a top tier performing arts centre. Heatherwick’s response provides three performance spaces – an opera house, a concert hall and a theatre – that come together as a focal point for the new Jiangdong cultural quarter just east of the historic city centre.

The new performing arts centre will have capacity for 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 performance.

The design process involved a team of makers and engineers who crafted the design through physical and immersive digital modelling alongside rigorous testing and data analysis. Our design responds intelligently to the local ecology and climate, reducing energy consumption and costs while cooling the environment for visitors and users of the space.

The studio is designing a tropical opera house for the island province of Hainan at the southernmost point of China.

The competition, organised by Haikou Tourism & Culture Investment Holding Group, called for a new cultural landmark with a top tier performing arts centre. Heatherwick’s response provides three performance spaces – an opera house, a concert hall and a theatre – that come together as a focal point for the new Jiangdong cultural quarter just east of the historic city centre.

The new performing arts centre will have capacity for 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 performance.

The design process involved a team of makers and engineers who crafted the design through physical and immersive digital modelling alongside rigorous testing and data analysis. Our design responds intelligently to the local ecology and climate, reducing energy consumption and costs while cooling the environment for visitors and users of the space.

CLIENT

Haikou Tourism & Culture Investment Holding Group

LOCATION

Hainan, China

APPOINTMENT

May 2022

STATUS

Under Construction

SIZE

101,629 sqm

DESIGN DIRECTOR

Thomas Heatherwick

GROUP LEADER

Eliot Postma

PROJECT LEADERS

Ricardo Sosa-Mejia (Competition Stage)

Laurence Dudeney & Sonila Kadillari (SD- DD Stage)

Craig Miller (CDR Stage – Ongoing)

PROJECT MANAGER

Mary Suen

TECHNICAL DESIGN LEADER

Stuart Macalister

STUDIO TEAM (CURRENT)

Adam Brown
Aleksandar Bursac
Alfonso Monedero
Andre Kong
Aziz Hoque
Blue Tuohy
Carmen Hu
Chen He
Cong Wang
Consuelo Manna
Craig Miller
Dirce Medina
Eliot Postma
Elliot Jefferies
Eric Lim
Erich Breuer
Freddie Lomas
Hannah Francis
Hannah Parker
Harriet Gargrave
James Harris
Jeff Powers
Ji Qi
Joanna Sabak
Jonathan Nguyhen
Kong Hoang
Laurence Dudeney
Leo Cheung
Leo Cheung
Luke Plumbley
Marcus Hawk
Mary Suen
Philipp Nedomlel
Peter Romvari
Pola Gottesman
Ricardo Sosa-Mejia
Simone Berardelli
Simone Tchonona
Sonila Kadillari
Stuart Macalister
Thomas Heatherwick
Thomas Thornton
Xirong Zheng
Yijia Li
Zara Ashby

STUDIO TEAM (PAST)

Cameron Overy
Charlotte McCarthy
Connie Luk
Emric John-Sawyer
Hannah Steenson
Jasmine Sung
Josh Mason
Kate Revyakina
Katerina Joannides
Kaowen Ho
Matthijs La Roi
Matthew Heitel
Remi Phillips-Hood
Steven Howson
Yanni Ren

DESIGN CONSULTANTS

ECADI (General Contracting Management, LDI, MEP, Structural, Façade, Lighting, Interior, Landscape, Sustainability)

Arup (Competition Structural Façade , MEP,  Acoustic and Theatre consultant)

Kunkel (Theatre Consultant)

Nagata (Acoustic Consultant)

ZADI (Acoustic Consultant)

Beijing Construction Engineering Group (General Contractor)