SHANGHAI Chinese cities continue to reshape their landscape with venues with unique architecture. In collaboration with the Dalian Urban Planing & Design Institute, 2DEFINE Architecture will be designing the new Yingkou Convention and Exposition Centre in Yingkou, China. The city is located in the northeast province of Liaoning on the Bohai Sea.
The purpose-built facility to be built at an estimated cost of RMB430 million (US$68 million), will sport a unique shape – that of a sea urchin – to reflect its natural environment. It will be the centerpiece of a new harbour in the satellite central business district of the city. The entire complex will be constructed on a 130,000-sqm artificial island. It will have no front or back, enabling it to provide 360-degree views of the Bohai Sea and the Yingkou coastline.
“The Yingkou Convention and Exposition Center will be a bold yet inviting facility in a very prominent port location,” said Marshall Strabala, founder and lead designer of 2DEFINE Architecture. “This type of building, when done right, becomes the heart of a city, a place for meetings, business and leisure. The trick is to create a building and environs that can be used 365 days a year, whether there is a major conference being held or not.
The four-storey facility will include a 25,000-sqm exhibition hall, 5,100 sqm of meeting rooms, a 200-fixed-seat auditorium, a 900-seat banquet hall and a large glass atrium. There will also be two large seafood restaurants with harbour views and outside terraces and a 1,200-sqm waterfront promenade planned.
There will also be a state-of-the-art rain screen system installed on the roof that will reflect natural light during the day and create a soft glowing form at night, making sure that artificial light is used minimally.
Construction will commence this year with the convention centre slated for opening in 2014.
Randall Sim
