schmidt hammer lassen architects has won an international competition to design a new home for the West Shanghai Workers’ Cultural Palace. This project has been a widely popular destination for Shanghai’s Labor Union workers and local community since it opened in 1959. The new proposal will include a theater, cinema, art and exhibition spaces, as well as office, sports facilities, commercial spaces, and a transportation hub -- all settled within the eight hectare site.
The design scheme preserves an existing park on the site, transforming into a fourteen acre public space that is centered on a lake. Four mixed-use towers, which sit on a plinth of cultural functions, are placed along the lake. At the lower levels of the towers, a performance theater, an education center and art and exhibition spaces are designed as "open and transparent spaces," allowing for easy access from the main street.
The towers provide space for cultural activities and commercial offices. The building is also interconnected at the basement levels with transport links to two new subway stations, retail space, and various indoor sports facilities. Outdoor sports facilities are spread throughout the park, creating an active space for the local community.
“This project is all about people” explains Chris Hardie, partner at schmidt hammer lassen. “At the beginning of the project we spent a lot of time on the existing site observing how the community and public used the park spaces around the lake. It became obvious how loved this amenity within the heart of the city was. At the same time we realized there wasn’t another large scale park in the area – the nearest being 5 km away. From this point onwards our focus became how to maximize the amount of open Public Park from 1 hectare to around 6 hectares on an overall 8 hectare site – whilst creating a new cultural destination of over 80,000 square meters. Our proposal deals with this whilst proposing a series of covered and open spaces at street and park level.”
Architects
Architect in Charge
Schmidt Hammer Lassen ArchitectsDesign Team
Chris Hardie, Morten Schmidt, Rong Lu, Claudius Lange, Rasmus Duong-Grunnet, Simon Hjalmar Persson, Lawrence Olivier-Mahadoo, Maria Vlagoidou, Liang Dong, Mo Yang, Zu Xinghua, Mathias Højfeldt Nielsen, Mads Bjerg Nørkjær, Beihong MaoLocal Partner Architect
ECADIArea
120000.0 sqmProject Year
2016Photographs
Beauty & the Bit, Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen ArchitectsArchitects
Project Year
2016Photographs
Beauty & the Bit, Courtesy of Schmidt Hammer Lassen ArchitectsArea
120000.0 m2
