Fuzhou cultural centre by Pes Architects completes

The Fuzhou SCAC by Finnish architecture firm PES-Architects is located next to the Minjiang River.

(Image credit: Marc Goodwin)

last updated 31 August 2022

Fuzhou, China, has recently been hailed as one of the fastest growing metropoles in the world, so no surprise that this aspiring urban hub was in need of a world-class cultural and performing arts centre to match. Enter Helsinki and Shanghai based studio PES-Architects, who have just completed a striking complex there; the Fuzhou Strait Culture and Art Centre.

The highly expressive, large scale commission is the architecture practice's fourth completed work in China, and takes its inspiration from the Chinese jasmine blossom, the official city flower of Fuzhou. Five ‘petals' host the centre's main functions; a 1600-seat opera house, a 1000-seat concert hall, a multi-functional theatre, and an art exhibition hall and cinema centre.

A striking spiral ramp connects the river level, the Jasmine Plaza on the ground floor and the public roof terrace.

The fine main buildings – the ‘petals' – are linked together by a central concourse on the ground level, and an accessible roof terrace at the top. Dramatic internal ramps and staircases, an open space at the project's heart, called the Central Jasmine Plaza, and seamless connections to the nearby Minjiang River, make for an ambitious and theatrical experience that is however firmly rooted in its context.

Inside, meticulously composed digital geometries and crafts unite in highly bespoke spaces that use materials, such as customised tiles and solid bamboo wood. The specially made ceramics are in fact a reference to the ‘historical context of the maritime Silk Road trade connection between China and the rest of the world', explain the architects. Highlighting this, Taiwanese ceramic artist Samuel Hsuan-yu Shih was invited to work on the interiors of the two main auditoriums, resulting in a pair of breathtaking halls full of sweeping curves and flowing spaces that are both pleasing to the eye and truly state-of-the-art when it comes to their acoustic properties.

The complex is composed of five main buildings, spread along the river bank.

The main entrance leads to an open space, featuring &rsquo;mushroom columns&rsquo; that host elevator and ventilation equipment. This lobby area is to be used for cultural activities. — The main entrance leads to an open space, featuring ’mushroom columns’ that host elevator and ventilation equipment. This lobby area is to be used for cultural activities.

The double-curved interior wall surfaces are clad in bamboo and envelope circulation and gallery spaces.

The Multipurpose Hall is flexible, so that the main stalls seating area can work both for a standing audience and even-level functions.

Approaching the Opera Hall through the building&rsquo;s corridors, the double curved skin hints to the spectacular interior inside. — Approaching the Opera Hall through the building’s corridors, the double curved skin hints to the spectacular interior inside.

The Opera Hall has a 1600-seat capacity and a state-of-the-art acoustic scripting and bespoke tile design.

The complex&rsquo;s Concert Hall is clad in customized white ceramic tiles and solid bamboo. — The complex’s Concert Hall is clad in customized white ceramic tiles and solid bamboo.

INFORMATION

For more information visit the website of Pes Architects.

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).