January 04. 2016 .Dalian China
A multi-functional "small city within a
city" with conference and event rooms for 7,000 visitors. A landmark for the prospering harbor city of Dalian.
The World Economic Forum, the main user, mainly known
for its annual meetings in Davos,
To make the building's architectural concept and
function visible from the outside, the conference halls penetrate the facade.
They stand out against the metallic outer skin and deform it.
The perforated aluminum slats of the exterior shell
provide a sufficient amount of daylight and give the building its striking
sculptural shape. The slats are opened in some of the public areas, offering
The two major urban axes converging give rise to the
building's position and basic shape. The Conference Hall and Opera House are
located in the center of the building beneath the shell-shaped, partially
translucent roof.
Small conference rooms surround this core like pearls, forming an internal urban structure with squares and streets that invite visitors to linger and chat - informal meeting spaces that are so important for conferences. The controlled supply of daylight assists the visitors in their spatial orientation and creates a atmospheric variety on the inside.
Since the opera and conference center lie directly behind one another, the main stage can be used for the classic theater auditorium just as well as for the flexible multi-purpose hall. The opera house is based on a multifunctional design and can be used for events such as conferences, music and theater all the way to classic opera with very little effort.
Despite its enormous size for 7,000 people, the building is as vibrant as a city. The entry hall has the
The building consists of two elements, the table and
the roof. The opera, conference halls and access zones rest on the table-shaped
steel construction, with a three-dimensional deformed facade-roof construction
above it. Both elements are steel space frames with depths ranging between five
and eight meters. The whole structure is supported by fourteen
vertical cores made of composite steel and concrete. The steel constructions
were produced at Chinese shipyards, since these were the only facilities where
the 10-cm steel plates could be welded safely and precisely. Modern technology
and construction expertise allowed for span widths of more than 85 meters and
projections of more than 40 meters.
Dalian's location on the sea, along with
the strong wind were essential environmental natural resources to minimize
energy consumption.
The relative thermal energy of the sea
water and the natural ventilation of the enormous air volumes
