David Chipperfield completes theatre and hotels in Jingdezhen cultural district

David Chipperfield Architects has built a theatre and hotel complex in Jingdezhen, China, as part of a masterplan to revive a former porcelain factory district.

The London-based studio's Berlin office developed the Ceramic Art Avenue Taoxichuan masterplan for the city known as China's porcelain capital.

The project involved transforming an entire urban block close to the city centre into a cultural district that celebrates the city's unique industrial heritage.

Taoxichuan Grand Theatre is one of several new buildings on the site

Former factory buildings on the site have already been converted to create a museum, a ceramics market and porcelain shops, and David Chipperfield Architects is also building a music academy.

With the completion of the Taoxichuan Grand Theatre and the hotel complex – which includes two hotels and an events venue – the renewal of the site is almost complete.

According to David Chipperfield Architects, the ambition behind Ceramic Art Avenue Taoxichuan is "not only preserving and converting the existing buildings for reuse, but complementing the urban quarter with new buildings to gain a contemporary presence".

The site includes a complex of four hotel buildings

The designs for the new buildings reference the industrial architecture of the old porcelain factories.

All of these buildings prominently feature brickwork, referencing the materiality of the old warehouses. But the bricks are often arranged as perforated screens, which gives them a more decorative quality.

Pedestrian walkways are a key element of the masterplan

The buildings are all linked by a boulevard and a pedestrian promenade, to encourage visitors to explore the whole site.

The Taoxichuan Grand Theatre incorporates two venues, a classical opera house and a black box theatre.

Mushroom-shaped columns characterise the theatre building

The building is characterised by huge mushroom-shaped columns that frame the main foyer. Located both in front of and behind the glazed facade, they support a monumental, projecting concrete roof.

The interior of the foyer is also concrete, with tactile details like timber-lined surfaces and a wall of glass blocks.

A wall of glass blocks frames the foyer

The curved form of the horseshoe-shaped opera house is visible from the street and also extends into the foyer. Its 1,200-seat auditorium is lined with walnut veneer and framed by three balcony levels.

"With this classical European format, the auditorium reflects the meaningful connectedness of audience and performers as one community who jointly experience an artistic performance as a singular, authentic live event as opposed to today's digital environment," said David Chipperfield Architects.

A horseshoe-shaped opera house has 1200 seats

The black box theatre has a more contemporary feel, with a flexible and mobile stage setup.

The space is lined in blackened wood and can be opened up to facilitate open-air performances.

[

Read:

Cavernous brick vaults define Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum in China

](https://www.dezeen.com/2020/11/16/jingdezhen-imperial-kiln-museum-studio-zhu-pei-china/)

Located immediately south of the theatre complex, the hotel complex is made up of four buildings plus a former dormitory that has been converted into apartments.

All four of the new buildings have a similar aesthetic, with brick walls, deep-set windows and recessed balconies.

The hotel buildings are a linked by a steel and glass structure

They are connected at ground level by a more lightweight structure built from steel and glass, which ties the entrances together and makes it easier to navigate the site. This space can also be used for public exhibitions and activities.

The hotel buildings are organised around open-air courtyard gardens, while the events block contains a series of flexible function rooms.

Hotel bedrooms are organised around courtyard gardens

"The semi-transparent facades of the function rooms and the perforated balustrades of the hotel balconies act as a filter between private and public areas," said David Chipperfield Architects.

"The staggered brick columns bring the overall building volume in relation to the human scale."

The Academy of Music is due to complete in 2022

Due to complete in 2022, the Academy of Music is under construction at the southern end of the Ceramic Art Avenue Taoxichuan site.

Set to include teaching facilities, recording studios and a 350-seat concert hall, the facility is being created within two former factory buildings that are being upgraded with new tiled roofs and a bold new interior layout.

The materials palette for this building includes maple veneer, pine wood and mastic asphalt.

[

Read:

Liangzhu Culture Museum by David Chipperfield Architects

](https://www.dezeen.com/2008/11/05/liangzhu-culture-museum-by-david-chipperfield-architects/)

David Chipperfield Architects has completed a number of projects in China to date, including the Liangzhu Culture Museum, the Xixi Wetland Estate and the Moganshan Road office block, all in Hangzhou.

Ceramic Art Avenue Taoxichuan is the studio's first project in Jingdezhen, a city where investment in culture has become a priority in recent years.

The Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum, designed by Studio Zhu-Pei, opened to fanfare in 2020, while the Sanbaopeng Art Museum, designed by DL Atelier, opened on the outskirts of the city in 2017.

---

Project credits

Architect: David Chipperfield Architects, Berlin

Client: Jingdezhen Ceramic Culture Tourism Group

Local design institute: ISA Architecture, Shanghai

Acoustics: Kahle Acoustics, TongJi Architectural Design

Lighting design: Leox

Landscape architect: Possibilism Design Studio, ISA Architecture

The post David Chipperfield completes theatre and hotels in Jingdezhen cultural district appeared first on Dezeen.

#all #hotels #architecture #cultural #landscapeandurbanism #instagram #davidchipperfield #china #theatres #jingdezhen

Sheppard Robson updates and extends Alan Short-designed theatre in Manchester

Architecture studio Sheppard Robson has remodelled the eccentric Contact theatre in Manchester, UK, stitching in a "new and distinct" metal-clad extension.

The overhaul was carried out by Sheppard Robson to improve the layout and energy performance of the building that was completed by British architect Alan Short in 1999.

Sheppard Robson has extended the Contact theatre in Manchester

Sheppard Robson's goal for the project was to refresh the Contact theatre while preserving Short's original vision for the building.

Working with ME engineers at Max Fordham, the project also enhances the efficiency of the building's original sustainable design features, such as the chimneys that made it the first naturally ventilated theatre in the UK.

The extension is clad in metal

"At the heart of the brief was to extend and refresh Contact whilst carefully preserving the building and organisation's progressive spirit," Sheppard Robson partner James Jones told Dezeen.

"Overall, the refurbishment and extension together work to make the building more accessible, future-focused, economically and environmentally sustainable."

The extension contains performance spaces

Contact was established in 1972, but its Short-designed home was created following an investment from Arts Council England in the 1990s.

The theatre and arts venue is best known for championing youth leadership and creativity. To reflect this, Sheppard Robson consulted with a group of young people associated with the theatre throughout the redesign.

[

Read:

Haworth Tompkins creates public foyer for Bristol Old Vic Theatre

](https://www.dezeen.com/2019/01/15/haworth-tompkins-bristol-old-vic-theatre-extension/)

"The [co-creation] process ensured that the building continues to be more than just a space to see a performance," Jones explained.

"It is far more deeply embedded with the community and new ways of engaging young people in the arts."

The existing building has also been remodelled

The 300-square-metre extension to the theatre is designed to complement Short's original quirky design, while also boasting its own unique aesthetic.

To achieve this, Sheppard Robson covered it with standing-seam aluminium and zinc cladding that echoes details of the existing building that are also finished with metal, such as the main entrance.

"Externally, we read the Alan Short design to be a complex 'village' of forms that articulate the range of spaces within the building," Jones explained.

"We wanted to add to this with a form that was clearly new and distinct, but still part of the village – the use of materials helped achieve this."

Circulation has been improved in the public areas

The extension comprises three storeys and is topped by a pitched roof arranged around two ventilation chimneys that nod to those on the original buildings.

In the same way as Short's original design, these chimneys are used to naturally ventilate the extension's interiors.

Inside, the ground floor of the extension comprises performance spaces as well as a health and science development created in partnership with the Wellcome Trust.

The first floor has offices for Contact staff, while the top floor contains rehearsal spaces and workspaces for artists and cultural organisations.

A new cafe and bar has been added to the entrance

Sheppard Robson's alterations to the Contact theatre's existing building included the improvement of sound insulation and circulation in the building's public areas. A new cafe and bar have been introduced at its entrance to "lift the arrival experience of the building", Jones said.

Upgrades were also made to reduce the building's overall carbon emissions, which the studio has predicted will see an annual drop of 13 per cent.

These improvements included changes in the way users can monitor and control air quality and airflow rates of the building's original natural ventilation system to minimise heat loss.

Lighting in the theatre now relies on LEDs

The new naturally-lit offices replace old cellular workspaces in the original building, and feature external shading to reduce overheating. All lighting has been swapped for LED technology, while an efficient central heating plant was introduced in place of 20-year-old boilers.

To track the reductions in the theatre's carbon emissions, Max Fordham will now monitor the building's energy consumption over the next two years and provide advice for optimisation.

Sheppard Robson said the improvements "lift the arrival experience of the building"

Sheppard Robson is a British architecture studio founded in 1938 by Richard Herbert Sheppard. It has offices in London, Manchester, and Glasgow.

Other projects by the studio include the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital in Johannesburg and a barn-style extension for a horse hospital in Edinburgh.

Elsewhere, architecture studio Haworth Tompkins also recently completed a number of theatre renovations, including the revamp of Bristol's Grade I-listed Old Vic theatre and the overhaul of the historic Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London's West End.

The post Sheppard Robson updates and extends Alan Short-designed theatre in Manchester appeared first on Dezeen.

#all #architecture #cultural #uk #extensions #manchester #theatres #renovations #culturalbuildings #sheppardrobson

Liminal Architecture and WOHA incorporate historic buildings into new theatre in Tasmania

A historic theatre building and the remnants of a 1920s garage are incorporated into a cluster of contemporary glass and metal blocks at this new performance and arts venue in Hobart, Tasmania.

Named The Hedberg after the Hedberg Brothers Garage building that stands on the site, the new centre extends the 180-year-old Theatre Royal with venues, workshop spaces and a new home for the University of Tasmania's Conservatorium of Music.

The Hedberg theatre in Tasmania was designed by Liminal Architecture and WOHA

Local practice Liminal Architecture and Singapore-based WOHA were awarded the project in 2013, with a design that sought to respond to the site's heritage while also creating a contemporary landmark for the city.

As well as directly connecting to the Theatre Royal with a new glazed and fully accessible foyer, the centre incorporates the frontage and walls of the original Hedberg Brothers Garage, which now houses administrative offices.

Externally the new forms contrast these historic structures, clad with a faceted pattern of metal panels that was informed by the act of opening theatrical curtains.

The studios clad the building in metal, glass and masonry

"The fabric of the building externally provides interpretative layers of the past re-presented through a contemporary lens, highlighting the story-telling potential of the building," said Liminal Architecture co-founder Peta Heffernan.

"We wanted The Hedgerg to feel more like a cluster of buildings on the city block, than a huge performing arts building that overwhelms the modest-scale heritage structures," added WOHA co-founder Richard Hassell.

[

Read:

CO Adaptive Architecture converts Gowanus foundry into flexible theatre spaces

](https://www.dezeen.com/2022/01/13/mercury-store-theatre-gowanus-brooklyn-co-adaptive-architecture/)

A glass box extends out over the street at the centre's southern corner, creating a triple-height atrium that welcomes visitors, weaving between the existing auditorium of the Theatre Royal and a new 350-seat recital hall.

On the other side of a central planted courtyard sit the studio and back-of-house spaces, with a staircase leading up to rehearsal rooms and studios for Conservatorium of Music students.

The interior speaks to the remnants of the older buildings on the site

Internally, the walls of the original garage are set against concrete, wood and steel finishes. A rehearsal room finished in textured wooden walls informed by minimalist music notation.

The cluster-like arrangement of the buildings blocks has enabled roof terraces to be created at different levels, providing dramatic views across the city.

The complex includes an auditorium and recital halls

"As part of the heritage strategy, we used materials that are modern but harmonise with the stucco, sandstone and brick of the historical buildings," said Hassell.

Other recent projects incorporating historic structures into new theatres include the renovation of an industrial building in New York into rehearsal spaces, and the transformation of a historic malt house in Canterbury into the Malt House Theatre.

The photography is byNatasha Mulhall.

The post Liminal Architecture and WOHA incorporate historic buildings into new theatre in Tasmania appeared first on Dezeen.

#all #architecture #cultural #australia #theatres #tasmania #culturalbuildings