Shenzhen Opera House
The Shenzhen Opera House is new cultural centre on the Shenzhen bay designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Jean Nouvel. Surrounded on three sides by water, the development connects the urban fabric of the city to the bay. A collection of four main venue buildings (opera, operetta, “black box” theatre and concert hall) and a public artists' village are all covered by an enormous wave-shaped glass canopy roof. Large windows or openable facades connect each of the main venues to the waterfront, while the canopy roof protects the village and outdoor foyers against the elements.
Information Sheet
New Build Shenzhen Opera House.
Location Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
Project Cost n/a.
Time Frame Competition: 2020. Design: 2020-2024. Construction: 2024-2026. Opening: 2026.
Owner Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Tourism, Radio and Television • Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Publics Works.
Architect(s) Ateliers Jean Nouvel, Paris/Shanghai/Shenzhen (France/China) www.jeannouvel.com
Theatre Planner(s) Theatre Projects, London, United Kingdom theatreprojects.com • Michel Cova as independent consultant to Ateliers Jean Nouvel, France.
Seat Count Opera hall with 2 100 seats, concert hall with 1 800 seats, operetta hall with 1 000 seats and “black box” theatre with 500 seats. Large rehearsal halls for orchestra (with recording control room), music, choir, drama and dance. Performer facilities such as small practice rooms, conductor's rooms and changing rooms. Artists' village containing a recording studio, galleries, restaurants and outdoor performance areas. Total gross floor area: 220 000 m².
Uses The Shenzhen Opera House is a cultural complex containing venues for opera, Chinese opera, orchestral concerts, chamber music and multiple other innovative performance formats. The project contains an artists' village, envisioned as a place for cultural exchange and as a new landmark of art and culture on the Shenzhen bay front. A canopy roof protects the entire outdoor space from the weather, expanding the range of uses and creating outdoor foyer areas for the venues.
Services Comprehensive acoustic design services, including room acoustics design for the opera hall, operetta hall, “black box” theatre and all front, and back-of-house spaces, with the exception of the concert hall (room acoustic design by Nagata Acoustics). Sound isolation design, structural isolation, noise and vibration control for the entire project, in collaboration with TongJi Architectural Design Group.
Team Evan Green, Jannis Kriz, Vincent Berrier, Eckhard Kahle, Kahle Acoustics • Wang Jing Bo, TongJi Architectural Design Group Co.Ltd.
The glass wave roof of the Shenzhen Opera House stretches out to meet the Shenzhen bay. Photo © Ateliers Jean Nouvel
The Shenzhen Opera House is surrounded by water on three sides. A curved, transparent roof protects the performance venue buildings, outdoor foyers and Artists' Village. Photo © Ateliers Jean Nouvel