effect.” The other third of the envelope is
custom-fritted glazing, “creating a certain
depth, so when you’re on the outside
looking in you almost feel like the space is
really receding into it,” he explains. This
extends the full height of the building above
the entrance lobby, a fact that is revealed by
a break in the columns.
The budget posed challenges, admits
Chilton. “Reducing the depth of the canopy
inevitably meant there were less columns, so
more of the rendered wall was exposed,” he
says. “We had to work quite hard on how
the columns were distributed so that
visually, from an angle, there were always
enough of them there to create the effect we
were after whilst masking what was a fairly
cheap and cheerful wall.”
There is an increasing focus on
sustainability in China, and as well as
the canopy reducing the load on the air
conditioning by limiting solar gain, Chilton
says the choice of materials will also
help. “It’s more down the line that the
sustainable potential will become
apparent,” he says. “It’s a simple palette of
fairly pure materials like raw steel and so in
terms of recycling we’re confident we
haven’t built anything that’s going to end
up in a landfill.”Approaching the finish line
The interior design and layout of the
2,000-seat theatre is something Chilton and
his team haven’t been directly involved in –
and in fact details are being kept somewhat
under wraps until the grand opening. The
nature of the show means an enormous
water tank has to be incorporated with the
circular stage, the specifics of which are
being finalised by specialist technical
theatre consultants APF along with the localdesign institute, and the show’s creators.
The biggest challenge for his team,
says Chilton, was fine-tuning the more
complicated elements while sticking to
their deadline, and he credits the success to
their working approach – and their use of
digital tools. “A lot of the elements were
designed parametrically, which allowed us
to have a certain flexibility to change the
design and look at various options,” he
says. “We produced a 3D model which
had all the built components that we
could then use to create the 2D drawings in
terms of sectioning etc. It was a really
efficient process.”
The construction started in early 2017,
only a few months after the practice were
first approached. “We started handing over
information which they would start using at
the local design institute after a couple of
months,” explains Chilton. In fact, while the
bulk of the design and construction work
was agreed early on, there was one detail
that caused a slight headache. “Choosing
the colours that they were going to paint
the back wall with took forever,” Chilton
says. “Everyone had a different opinion and
it just went round and round!”
Despite this, and some minor changes to
the glass fritting, the project has so far gone
smoothly. “Anything that’s had to be
updated has been fairly superficial stuff,” he
says. “When these things run so quickly
there’s room for error but the team [in
China] are very competent, they’ve done a
fine job.”
There’s a buzz around the project among
locals, which Chilton’s pleasantly surprised
by. “It’s doing the rounds on social media in
China,” he says. “Over the last few years
there’s been dozens of really interesting
buildings designed and constructed so
you’d have thought they’d be fairly blasé,
but it’s great.” Since work began Wanda
have sold the project, along with several of
their other cultural tourism cities, to Sunac,
who are now overseeing it with a team
transferred from Wanda.
In spite of the time pressure, Chilton says
working on the project, which is shortlisted
for the Future Project Award (Cultural) at
the World Architecture Festival, has been a
“pleasurable experience”. Being a relatively
new practice, they enjoy challenging
themselves and finding new approaches,
and this project has been no exception. “We
just try to reset our approach and find
something about the locality or culture,” he
says. “If we used the same technique or
approach every time it would become
boring – we try and keep it interesting.” PROJECT FACTFILEArchitect: SCA | Steven Chilton
Architects
Client: Dalian Wanda Group
Architecture and Design
Management: Wanda Cultural
Tourism Planning & Research
Institute Co. Ltd
Concept engineer: Buro Happold
Engineering
Theatre consultant: Auerbach
Pollock Friedlander
Show design: Dragone
Local Design Institute: Tongji
Architectural Design36PROJECT REPORT: CULTURAL, CIVIC & FAITH BUILDINGSWWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK ADF AUGUST 2019