Grande Theatre Shanghai
Grande Theatre Shanghai
In close cooperation with seele, one of Asia's most modern opera houses was created in the historic centre of the Chinese metropolis of Shanghai. The French architect Jean-Marie Charpentier designed a vaulted roof for this building which was formally linked to traditional Chinese designs which symbolise the elements of heaven and earth. An appropriate epithet has been applied to the 1,800-seater theatre – the “Crystal Palace”. A significant design element of the building is the extensive foyer glazing that hangs like an opaque veil around the building’s sculpted interior. This ultra-modern façade contributes greatly to making the Grand Theatre a symbol of Shanghai’s start to the new millennium.
The project was under great time pressure. The assembly had to be completed within a few months. The structure is turned “upside down”, with the massive recessed concrete half-shell resting on a highly transparent glazed base construction featuring rows of columns, making it appear very much like a temple hall. Large, strong panes of 15-mm ESG white glass create a smooth and highly transparent glass façade between the cantilevered roof and the floor slab.
The project was under great time pressure. The assembly had to be completed within a few months. The structure is turned “upside down”, with the massive recessed concrete half-shell resting on a highly transparent glazed base construction featuring rows of columns, making it appear very much like a temple hall. Large, strong panes of 15-mm ESG white glass create a smooth and highly transparent glass façade between the cantilevered roof and the floor slab.
In conjunction with the pressure rods on the joints, cables stretched horizontally and vertically form a filigree cable support, which is structurally defined by horizontal and vertical cable trussed beams. Four-armed spider clamps attached through holes bored in the façade are connected to the pressure bars. The long pressure rods are hinge-mounted on the ceilings, and these support points reduce the façade’s amplitude movement. Screen printing lends the panes their milky character. It brings the façade to life – tinted in the colour of the roof half-shell resting on it, also providing sun protection for the foyer.
