Snøhetta has won the design competition for the Xingtai Grand Theater in China. Situated in Xingtai, one of China’s oldest cities, the theater will become a new landmark for the rapidly modernizing city.

As one of the fastest growing cities in the Hebei Province, the spatial layout of Xingtai’s old town is currently struggling to meet the needs of this rapid urban development. The new Grand Theater is the anchor of a new master plan in Central and Southern parts of the Province, forming a new cultural monument.

‘Xingtai is looking towards the future while remaining grounded in its rich history’, says Snøhetta founder Kjetil Trædal Thorsen. The Grand Theater is an important cultural initiative to carry forward this city’s legacy and culture.

The design proposal goes beyond the prescribed site boundary, intentionally introducing a larger gesture – the Grand Circle Promenade. This includes not only the Grand Theater, but a science-and technology museum, a circular event plaza and the central eco-park, creating a generous space of interaction and creativity. Physically, functionally and symbolically, this circular gesture unites and connects the different cultural programs in the area; culture, science and nature, marking the area with its unique identity, while simultaneously fostering and instilling harmony to its surrounding environment. This design initiative connects the different cultural and science programs in the vicinity, creating an inclusive public space where visitors from any cultural or social background can enjoy the sights and activities around and inside the Grand Theater, without necessarily being a ticket-holder.

The design is inspired by the ancient Eastern Chinese philosophy, “Tian Yuan Di Fang”, meaning round sky and square Earth, which is a way of understanding the universe. The round sky represents its organic moving elements, such as the moon and the stars, whereas the square Earth represents the stable steadfast ground. By distinguishing heaven and Earth, the philosophy encompasses everything in between. The all-encompassing, incorporating design pays homage to this idiom, spanning from the macro level of the science museum and the park, to the micro-level where activities happen between heaven and Earth, inside, outside, on top of, or between the buildings.

Emerging from the Grand Circle Promenade is the Xingtai Grand Theater. The city’s name ‘xing’ originated from the Chinese character ‘a well (井)’, attributed to the city’s early advancement in well technology. ‘Tai’ means platform (台) and originates from the Tai Hang Mountains to the west. The design pays homage to the well and the city’s early advancement in well technology by incorporating the reflective pool at the center of the Grand Circle Promenade. A walkway circles the ‘well’, embracing the site before spiraling through the theater building, all the way up to its outdoor roof plaza, which provides a view of the new cultural area. The ‘platform’ is represented via multiple podiums incorporated in the design, creating opportunities for both choreographed and live performances. Simultaneously, the building’s ceramic façade pays tribute to Xingtai’s rich porcelain manufacturing history, sweeping across the space and providing shade and cover for the pathway, as well as diffused lighting in the interior lobby. The Grand Theater’s structural slanted columns array at full height along the façade as a singular system, and the circular pathway mitigates itself along a square perimeter, rising to the outdoor roof plaza at 22.5 meters above grade.

The design aims to provide a conceptual level of balance between the theater’s long-curved plaza, shimmering façade, and soaring atrium. The Grand Circle Promenade demarcates a circular space which can be used for picnic gatherings and family activities. The outdoor amphitheater welcomes spontaneous impromptu practice sessions, and the midpoint platform overlooks the park. Its surrounding neighborhood is expected to become a significant node of interest for both future residents and visitors of Xingtai. Focusing on the interaction between the building and the public, the walls interact with the building itself and is a key element of the overall planning for the building. The Grand Theater aims to serve as a space for performances from all around the world, but also where life and activities organically aggregate around it.

Snøhetta

The post Xingtai Grand Theater was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

The Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities (CGBC) at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) announced the completion of HouseZero, the retrofitting of CGBC headquarters in a pre-1940s building in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, into an ambitious living-laboratory and an energy-positive prototype for ultra-efficiency.

Thanks to 285 sensors embedded within it, collecting almost 17 million data points each day, the building will adjust itself seasonally, and even daily, to reach thermal comfort targets for its occupants. This data infrastructure enables the building to immediately respond to both external and internal variables such as outdoor air temperature or rain, and indoor CO2 levels and air temperature.

An open floor plan and careful selection of lighter-coloured materials enhance the sense of openness in the space. Additionally, the design emphasises the acoustics of the existing structure, from exposure of the existing beams to creation of double height spaces, to elevate the spatial experience and occupant comfort.
At the centre of the building, a faceted stairwell spirals up through all four floors, reducing disturbance from circulation. As part of a unique digital exchange, the hexagonal panels of the stairwell have been robot-milled and finished by students at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
A solar vent at the East façade is used to instigate buoyancy-driven natural ventilation throughout the interior, while its glazed sections allow natural light to enter the stairwell. Sculpted window shrouds protect the interior, maximising daylight use and passive solar practices in each space.
Beyond the retained existing materials, new, locally available materials of high performance, such as locally-sourced white cedar shingles, ash and birch interior finishes, ultra high-slag concrete, natural clay plaster, and reclaimed brick and granite, create a balanced indoor climate.

A collaboration with energy engineers Skanska Teknikk Norway, HouseZero’s performance targets include nearly zero energy for heating and cooling, zero electric lighting during the day, operating with 100% natural ventilation, and producing zero carbon emissions. The sustainable building is intended to produce more energy over its lifetime (over a 60 year life span) than was used to renovate it and throughout its subsequent operation, and will be accessible to the public through tours and live demonstrations of its technology.

Snøhetta

The post Harvard HouseZero was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

Nestled in the dense forest of Harestua, located 45 kilometers north of Oslo, a new planetarium and visitor center is designed to be placed near the twelve-meter research tower of Solobservatoriet, largest astronomical facility in Norway and Northern Europe.

The design comprises a brand new 1,500 m² Planetarium at the centre of seven scattered cabins, comfortably accommodating up to 118 guests in total. Each cabin is shaped like a small, imaginary-named planet, seemingly orbiting around the planetarium, like planets orbit around the Sun. Some are halfway driven into the ground, others gently rest on the soft forest floor, as if they just landed. The smallest, Zolo, is 6 m in diameter and houses a two-bed cabin.

The Planetarium, echoing the world’s very first planetarium, conceived by Archimedes around 250 B.C., is a cross between landscape and built structure, with a green roof that visitors can stroll on to gaze up at the starry sky. Wrapping around the engraved with constellations golden cupola, the three-story theatre with 100-seat capacity emerges from the earth, gradually revealing itself as people approach.
Around it is a reception, café and exhibition area and a gently swirling ramp leading up to an exhibition mezzanine and the outdoor roofscape.
On its lowest level, below ground, the Planetarium dedicates a generous, bowl-shaped space for children to unfold.

The new facilities will offer a range of scientific activities within astronomy, sun studies and natural science, in an ambitious expansion of the current and modest facilities, turning the entire site into a publicly accessible and international knowledge hub, also providing accommodation for teambuilding and like activities.

Snøhetta

The post New Solobservatoriet was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

West of Muscat, on the coast of Gulf of Oman, a new fish market has taken the stand as a new landmark on the waterfront along the lively corniche in Muttrah, the country’s largest harbour.
The 4.000m² fish market which is close to the city’s original fish market, built in 1960, is designed to unite the old and the new, merging tradition with innovation and creating a public meeting space where local fishermen and worldly tourists from all over the world can meet under the same roof.
The architectural concept is inspired by the playful qualities of light and shadow through the shape of a double radial wall defining the spine of the building. The dynamic canopy, whose fishbone-referencing form derives from the sinuous flow of Arabic calligraphy, is built from aluminium fins which provide shade, natural ventilation, and an ephemeral appearance. The canopy roof’s complexity contrasts the simple solidity of the concrete structure below.
The marketplace provides space for more than 100 fish sellers and cutters and a new market for vegetables and fruit, as well as refrigeration, packaging, and storage facilities alongside offices, coffee shops, and a rooftop restaurant. Seen from afar, the curved wall relates to the radial shape of the corniche and the wider bay area, defining the boundaries of public space and interconnecting the city, the mountains, and the waterfront.

Snøhetta

The post Muttrah fish market was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

In Norwegian, “under” also translates as “wonder.” Serving exclusively locally sourced seafood, the restaurant is designed half-sunken into the sea. The building’s monolithic form breaks the water surface to lie against the craggy shoreline, becoming part of its marine environment as it comes to rest directly on the sea bed five meters below the water’s surface. With meter-thick concrete walls, the structure is built to withstand pressure and shock from the rugged sea conditions while the coarse surface of its sleek, streamlined form will become an artificial mussel reef to rinse the sea and naturally attract more marine life to its purified waters. Outside opening hours, parts of the restaurant will be shared by marine biology research teams.

Informational plaques about marine biodiversity and the Norwegian coast will be mounted alongside the trail leading guests to the restaurant entrance at the water’s edge. The building comfortably accommodates 80-100 guests and unfolds in three levels; the entrance leads to the wardrobe area, then one level below to the champagne bar and further down to the last level of the restaurant. Marking the transition between shoreline and ocean, a narrow acrylic window cuts vertically down through the restaurant levels. From the bar, guests can also look down at the seabed level through the 11 x 4-meter panoramic acrylic window of the restaurant.
Colours are inspired by the coastal zone, gradually darkening towards the interior. The warm oak of the restaurant interior contrasts with the rough concrete shell, creating an intimate atmosphere. Sustainable materials and an advanced heating pump technology guarantee a comfortable indoor climate.
Through its architecture, menu and mission of informing the public about the biodiversity of the sea, Under will provide an under-water experience activating all the senses – both physical and intellectual.

The post Under was originally published on ek magazine | Architectural Publications | ek magazine – Architectural Publications.

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