Zhejiang Museum of Natural History / David Chipperfield Architects

Zhejiang Museum of Natural History / David Chipperfield Architects - Door, FacadeZhejiang Museum of Natural History / David Chipperfield Architects - ColumnZhejiang Museum of Natural History / David Chipperfield Architects - Image 4 of 16Zhejiang Museum of Natural History / David Chipperfield Architects - WaterfrontZhejiang Museum of Natural History / David Chipperfield Architects - More Images+ 11

  • Project Team: Hans Christian Buhl, Zhexu Du, Tianyuan Fan, Jinghui Hou, Andrew Irvin, Han Li, Huiqun Liu, Jidi Pan, Fengjuan Sun, Nora Wuttke, Liping Xu, Zhixun Zhou
  • Client: Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, People’s Government of Anji County
  • Partners: David Chipperfield, Mark Randel, Libin Chen
  • Project Architects: Alessandro Milani, Miguel Angel, Shen Huiwen, Chuxiao Li
  • Competition Team: Zhexu Du, Fengjuan Sun, Nora Wuttke, Liping Xu; Graphics, Visualisation: Alessandro Milani
  • Building Physics, Acoustics: Zhejiang South Architecture Design Ltd
  • Exhibition Planning: Triad China Ltd.
  • City: Huzhou
  • Country: China
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Zhejiang Museum of Natural History / David Chipperfield Architects - Door, Facade
Courtesy of David Chipperfield Architects

Text description provided by the architects. Founded in 1929, the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History is located in Hangzhou and has a collection of over 200,000 specimens covering geology, ecology and palaeontology. The eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang is the site of many important discoveries from the Cretaceous period. A new, second branch of the museum has been established in Anji, in the north of the region, forming the centrepiece of a new cultural district.

Zhejiang Museum of Natural History / David Chipperfield Architects - Facade
Courtesy of David Chipperfield Architects

The new museum is set on a sloping site in a large natural park surrounded by bamboo forests and overlooking rice fields in the valley below. It comprises a loose infrastructure of spacious exhibition halls, taking into account the large scale of some of the exhibits: Dinosaur fossils and life-size models, large-scale wildlife dioramas, accompanied by multimedia and interactive exhibition elements.

Ground floor plan

The staggered composition of the eight, single-storey, bar-shaped pavilions step down the hillside. They follow the natural topography, minimising the visual impact on the landscape, and frame an open garden. A loggia, or covered walkway, loops around this central space, mediating between the external and internal areas of the museum.

Zhejiang Museum of Natural History / David Chipperfield Architects - Image 4 of 16
Courtesy of David Chipperfield Architects

At the northernmost point, an entrance pavilion welcomes visitors and offers views over the central garden and landscape beyond. Located on either side of the garden, each exhibition hall can be accessed directly or in sequence following the stepped loggia. The southernmost pavilion faces faces out towards a lake at the lowest end of the site.

Zhejiang Museum of Natural History / David Chipperfield Architects - Column
Courtesy of David Chipperfield Architects
Section

The solid forms of the pavilions are embedded within the dense landscaping of the central garden and the surrounding parkland. The planting extends onto the green roofs of the building complex which is rendered in red ochre to match the clay earth of the hillside site, reinforcing the relationship between the museum and the landscape.

Zhejiang Museum of Natural History / David Chipperfield Architects - Waterfront
Courtesy of David Chipperfield Architects

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Project location

Address:Anji County, Huzhou, Zhejiang, China

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Zhejiang Museum of Natural History / David Chipperfield Architects" 13 Feb 2020. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/933698/zhejiang-museum-of-natural-history-david-chipperfield-architects> ISSN 0719-8884

Courtesy of David Chipperfield Architects

浙江自然博物院新馆 / David Chipperfield Architects

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