The Xiqu Center, a performance venue and the new home for Chinese opera, recently completed in Hong Kong’s new multi-billion dollar West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD). The Xiqu Center is the first performance venue in WKCD and also the first venue in the world designed for classical Chinese Opera.
The main theater is suspended 90 feet in the air to open up the entire ground level as public space. “It results in a new paradigm of an open, shaded, protective, and generous public plaza inHong Kong’s legendary dense urban fabric,” says John Wong, FASLA, FAAR, Design Principal and Chairman, SWA, in a release.
Xiqu’s ground floor serves as an urban stage designed to facilitate movement, provide a gathering space, and enhance the visitor experience. The landscape and architecture blend together to create a space that feels both indoors and outdoors and features groupings of trees at each entry and a naturally ventilated open-air interior courtyard. Another two outdoor gardens flank the main performance hall on the fourth floor.
See Also: SWA designs people-centric landscape and public realm for Chase Center
The exterior of the building is curved three dimensionally with arched openings strategically located at all corners. A lifted facade provides three main entry areas with access to the ground level. Each entry level is determined by the surrounding site conditions. A public amphitheater with an outdoor performance area is also included.
Revery Architecture and SWA collaborated on the project’s design.
Related Stories
| Sep 19, 2013
What we can learn from the world’s greenest buildings
Renowned green building author, Jerry Yudelson, offers five valuable lessons for designers, contractors, and building owners, based on a study of 55 high-performance projects from around the world.
| Sep 19, 2013
6 emerging energy-management glazing technologies
Phase-change materials, electrochromic glass, and building-integrated PVs are among the breakthrough glazing technologies that are taking energy performance to a new level.
| Sep 19, 2013
Roof renovation tips: Making the choice between overlayment and tear-off
When embarking upon a roofing renovation project, one of the first decisions for the Building Team is whether to tear off and replace the existing roof or to overlay the new roof right on top of the old one. Roofing experts offer guidance on making this assessment.
| Sep 11, 2013
BUILDINGChicago eShow Daily – Day 3 coverage
Day 3 coverage of the BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland conference and expo, taking place this week at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza.
| Sep 10, 2013
BUILDINGChicago eShow Daily – Day 2 coverage
The BD+C editorial team brings you this real-time coverage of day 2 of the BUILDINGChicago/Greening the Heartland conference and expo taking place this week at the Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza.
| Aug 26, 2013
What you missed last week: Architecture billings up again; record year for hotel renovations; nation's most expensive real estate markets
BD+C's roundup of the top construction market news for the week of August 18 includes the latest architecture billings index from AIA and a BOMA study on the nation's most and least expensive commercial real estate markets.
| Aug 22, 2013
Energy-efficient glazing technology [AIA Course]
This course discuses the latest technological advances in glazing, which make possible ever more efficient enclosures with ever greater glazed area.
| Aug 14, 2013
Green Building Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Jul 29, 2013
2013 Giants 300 Report
The editors of Building Design+Construction magazine present the findings of the annual Giants 300 Report, which ranks the leading firms in the AEC industry.
| Jul 22, 2013
Cultural Facility Report [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Building Design+Construction's rankings of design and construction firms with the most revenue from cultural facility projects, as reported in the 2013 Giants 300 Report.
