Hangzhou Grand Theatre

Completion Date: 2005
Location: Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, The People’s Republic of China
Size: 538,000 sq. ft.
Award: International Design Competition Winner

With its prominent location in Hangzhou, China, the Hangzhou Grand Theatre was designed as a statement building that would be central to regional tourism. PETROFF, working with Design Architect Carlos Ott, won this prominent International Design Competition and provided architectural, interior and urban design services. The site features a diverse set of entertainment options and houses an opera house (1,600 seats), a concert hall (600 seats), a multifunction hall (400 seats), an open-air stage and a culture square (700 seats).

The Hangzhou Grand Theatre was conceived not as an architectural building, but as a sculpture. The theatre form is shaped by only two surfaces; a double curvature plane in aluminum intersecting a cone in glass. The only expression of the inside of the building, the opera hall, is expressed in its exterior in the shape of a glass conical form. The design balances metaphor and technology- traditional and modern. It is rich in meaning and symbolism. The sweeping glazed form of the main theatre building evokes the moon, the jewel-like auditorium performance space recalls the sun, or a pearl cradled by an oyster. Yin and Yang, female and male, the harmony of the two elements balancing each other brings a level of wonder and timelessness to the composition. The curved roof form also evokes the traditional shape of the roof form found in historic public Chinese architecture.