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Global design studio Benoy has unveiled renderings depicting a cantilevered Hangzhou Canal Art Center set for the location of a former thermal power plant in the populous Chinese city. Standing adjacent to the Joy City Hangzhou mixed-use development, which Benoy also designed, the new cultural complex features a clean and restrained design clad in concrete, weather-resistant steel plates, wood and metal mesh.
The design brief called on Benoy to take stock of the site's evolution from a functioning thermo-electric plant to a green arts hub. Pursuant to that goal, the firm developed a building integrated with its natural surroundings. Interior community space will host art exhibitions, weekend markets, sports and cultural events, and leisurely recreation. Multiple entrances provide easy ingress and allow the neighbouring urban park to flow into the design.
"We deliberately broke down the massing of the building, mixing public space into the development," said Director Qin Pang of Benoy. "We then blurred the boundaries between indoor and outdoor through the use of spatial concepts such as courtyards, corridors and semi-open spaces."
Through the use of reserved exterior materials, Benoy explains that the project becomes "a canvas for the activity within and around the scheme." The 14,000-square-metre development is set to open to the public at the end of 2018.
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