Prince Bay Marketing Exhibition Centre / AECOM

Architects: AECOM
Year: 2016
Photographs: Zhang Xuetao

Heart of Shekou

Prince Bay Marketing Exhibition Centre is located at Shekou Harbour, Shekou, the birthplace of the Shenzhen Economic Reform. The recent ‘Shekou Starting Again Plan’has further positioned Shekou Harbour as the heart of the important Shekou Free Trade Area. Therefore, in response to the area’s unique geographical and cultural characteristics, it was essential for the design of the exhibition center to reflect the past triumphs while looking forward to the immense future potential of Shekou.

Three Sets of Surfaces +Three Windows

The design concept is based on the shape of a “three-blade propeller”, which extends out into of three sets of 70 meter smooth surfaces and three super-scale windows. The three surfaces represent Chiwan Hill, Weibo Hill and Shenzhen Bay respectively, while the three windows open to Shekou Bay, Chiwan Bay, and Dananshan Park. The orientation of the surfaces and windows provide a visual tour of the famous spots of Shekou while allowing visual consistency and clear sense of space.

Floating + Twisted

Located in the reclaimed land, the site is surrounded by wide open space. By raising the main space of the building to 6 metres high, line of vision is suddenly opened up to views of cruise ships and mountain trees in the distance. Airy overhangs provide shaded respite for visitors from the strong subtropical sunlight. Moreover, the twisted shape make flowing curves at the interchange, folding out to building volumes made of glass and steel, creating lightness and more dynamic form.

An Opaque Box Exhibition Box + Transparent Side Court

Three double-layer opaque exhibition halls are built around a three storey high atrium. Throughout the descending visitor route, a variety of high-tech virtual images and model images are presented, displaying Shekou's past, present, and future. Visitors are free to walk around the side court made of glass louvers. They could overlook the mountain and sea, recalling the city throughout the generations, and enjoy the view of Prince Bay while appreciating the city's urban growth. The alternating experience of "inside" and “outside”, together with the contradiction of "opaque" and "transparency", allow the conversion between "virtual" and “reality", and transformation between "time" and "space", producing a rich multi-dimensional experience. The Edge of the side court flip up to form the roof, a covering for the “hanging garden” with fantastic views. The material of the exhibition hall include dark red brick and etching copper reflecting the history of Shekou, while the glazed glass of the side atrium suggests futurity. Merging of these two materials at a distance echo a balance of warm and cold.

2D construction for 3D effect

For a temporary building, glass and steel are the most environmental-friendly materials. The design applies “twist and turn” to the geometry in order to break the boundary between "wall" and "roof", thus guiding viewer’s sight towards sky. Meanwhile, it forms an elegant wave-like curved profile, symbolising the influence of harbour culture. To realise the ideal 3D effect within budget, the team came up with a solution of breaking the structure into 2D parts. By accurate 3D model optimisation and analysis, 270 main keels with 90 different lengths (total length 3645m), and 6300 pieces of rectangle glass with 1800 sizes (optimised to 420) ultimately realised the elegant yet powerful shape.

Design Integration + implementation Efficiency

As the client required the project to be completed within an extremely short time of 10 months, from design to complete construction, it was necessary for the AECOM team to taking the ‘design-build delivery system’ which allows high design accuracy and effective implementation. The multi-disciplinary team within AECOM collaborated extensively, to produce and manage the architectural, landscape and interior design during the entire design process, while coordinating with the exhibition, lighting and curtain wall design teams to ultimately completed this "unrealisable" task.