Hengqin Culture & Art Complex: Bay Area Beacon

Nestled on the edge of the Pearl River Delta, the Hengqin Culture & Art Complex by Yunchao Xu/Atelier Apeiron unfolds as a thoughtfully woven tapestry of nine cultural programs. Rather than treating each function in isolation, the design knits together library, performance, exhibition, and community spaces into a single, yet legible, urban landmark.

A Vision from Atelier Apeiron

When Atelier Apeiron entered—and won—the 2018 competition, lead architect Yunchao Xu brought a philosophy of continuous inquiry (hence the name “Apeiron”). Faced with nine independent departments—from a science museum to a youth activity center—the team proposed integrating them under one overarching gesture. By granting each pavilion relative autonomy within a unified masterplan, conflicts around circulation, scale, and identity were resolved through strategic overlaps, shared volumes, and a consistent material palette of glass, wood, and bamboo.

Integrating Nine Disciplines under One Roof

At the base, three inverted-catenary arches carve into the volume, each marking the threshold to one of three “urban living rooms”: the Knowledge Hall, Performance Hall, and Exhibition Hall. This geometric move creates large-scale porosity in a dense setting, allowing views to the adjacent park and drawing daylight deep into the heart of the complex via skylights and diffuse reflectors. The arches also serve structurally, translating lateral typhoon forces into vertical loads—a nod to both Eastern and Western arch traditions.

Crafting Spaces for Community Life

Inside, the Knowledge Hall riffs on Helsinki’s Oodi Library, stacking “crystal” book blocks into a vertical village of reading nooks and informal gathering spots. The Performance Hall combines a broad open stage with a black-box theater, accommodating everything from orchestral concerts to experimental dance. In the Exhibition Hall, punctured “cheese holes” in the ceiling introduce shifting shafts of light, setting a mutable backdrop for art and science installations. Above, a sequence of four rooftop platforms—from a semicircular stage and children’s play deck to a shared garden and rain garden—extends the cultural program into the sky.

Responding to Climate and Context

Hengqin’s typhoon season and silty island soils demanded technical rigor. After testing wind-resistant façades, the team settled on a lightweight suspended glass curtain wall. Below, a sealed basement raft with anchoring piles stabilizes the structure on soft ground. Sustainable strategies—local sourcing, material reuse, passive daylighting, and reduced reliance on air conditioning—underscore the project’s low-carbon aspirations without calling attention to them.