Shunde Grand Opera HouseDesign Presentation

Past, present and future
Nordic's vision for the Shunde Grand Opera House was selected as the jury's winning design concept. The concept is a cultural hub rooted in the history of Shunde, with an active arena that looks towards the future. On the ground floor is a museum focusing on the past, while the next level contains spaces for contemporary performances. The academy on top will educate, inspire and foster future talent.
“With the Shunde Cultural centre we have developed a concept for an extrovert public building where locals and visitors get to experience the rich traditions of Shunde and world class performances on a range of formal and informal stages”.
- Thomas Fagernes, Partner in charge, Nordic — Office of Architecture

Beyond the brief
In the proposal, Nordic provided a range of opportunities from the grand public performance space in the main plaza, to more intimate outdoor performances on the roof and in the lobby, in addition to the three large stages outlined in the client’s program.

For the cultural centre, the team created spaces and stages for a wide variety of encounters and interactions, utilising the exterior of the building and surrounding landscape for exploration and events.

Shaped by water
Water symbolises life in Chinese culture and represents infinite possibilities. Rooted in the rich local culture of water, we have looked at the way the rivers have created the landscape of the site. Our conceptual approach was to shape the buildings as the river would have shaped it, creating soft flowing lines throughout. "The result gives us two large public arenas, one connected to the ground, and one connected to the sky". - Jaymar Delgado, Architect, Nordic — Office of Architecture

The west building is The Shunde Grand Opera House, extrovert and facing the scenery with a large entrance plaza arena. The Creative Valley sits in the east building, centred around a green plaza where people meet and synergies between different creative professions can emerge.

Golden concert hall
The design of the grand concert hall draws inspiration from rice terraces, giving soft fluid lines with good sightlines towards the stage.

"We have envisioned a golden atmosphere with silk clad timber wall panels to create a silky sheen, dark timber floors, and cushions dressed in a jade green fabric, inspired by the lush surrounding landscape of Shunde”. - Frederico Francisco, Architect, Nordic — Office of Architecture

An intimate meeting place
As an intimate meeting place between the performer and the audience, the opera stage features a rich and luxurious interior with deep red seats sat against dark timber surfaces and patterned silk fabrics from the region, creating a warm atmosphere with local context. Each of the venues have dedicated elevated areas within the lobby, with capacity for all to operate simultaneously.

"We created a warm atmosphere with a local identity, framing the stage as an intimate meeting place between the performer and the audience. With the cruciform stage layout, there is full flexibility for multiple performances and rehearsals while creating shorter distance between the performers and the audience". - Yang Zhang, Architect, Nordic — Office of Architecture

Connected by a silky ribbon
"The design of this central element is inspired by the appearance of silk, a material with a long history in this area of Guangdong". - Eva Schwärzler, Architect, Nordic — Office of Architecture
The lobby balconies wrap around the concert halls like soft and airy silk ribbons, creating a fluid horizontal connection between the three performance spaces and the various balcony levels, complementing the organic design with a very elegant feel.