vaulted concrete forms shape long museum west bund by atelier deshaus

the shanghai-based long museum has opened its second facility, located on the banks of the huangpu river in the city’s west bund culture corridor. designed by architecture office atelier deshaus, the building is characterized by a series of umbrella-like vaulted forms and monolithic concrete materiality.

the concrete museum has been built around an existing 1950s coal-hopper unloading bridge
image by su shengliang (main image by xia zhi), all images courtesy of atelier deshaus

the long museum west bund has been designed around an existing 1950s coal-hopper unloading bridge, which extends 110 meters in length, 10 meters in width, and 8 meters tall. in addition, the project builds upon and repurposes a two-years old underground parking garage on the site, and responds directly to its structural layout. thus the result is a four-story building, in which there are two floors above and below grade.

each arching form curves wall and ceiling planes together, resulting in high barrel vaults or cantilevered overhangs separated by narrow skylights. the smooth concrete surfaces faintly express their cast-in-place construction process, through the formwork’s rectilinear grid and plugged tie holes.

the building’s elevations express the vaulted forms’ profiles
image by su shengliang

the 33,000 square-meter museum’s two stories above grade are dedicated to contemporary art, and offer high and gently daylit exhibition spaces for displaying paintings, sculptures, installations, and new media. the basement floors feature the institution’s permanent collection of precious ancient chinese artifacts and art works from the republic of china. the facility includes 16,000 square-meters of gallery space.

image by su shengliang

in seeking to instate a new role of the cultural institution through its architectural design, the long museum describes that its west bund facility, ‘does not adopt the closed spatial pattern typical of ordinary museums but functionally embraces openness and public involvement.’ this aspiration is in part manifested through the inclusion of various program elements beyond the gallery spaces, such as a public courtyard, concert hall, café, art shop, exhibition hall for children, library, artifact restoration rooms, and a restaurant with a view to the adjacent river.

the smooth concrete surfaces faintly express their cast-in-place construction process
image by su shengliang

the high and daylit gallery spaces on above-grade floors are dedicated to displaying contemporary art
image by su shengliang

ceilings and walls are curved into a singular planes
images by su shengliang

short runs of stairs gradually ascend circulation to the upper level
image by xia zhi

image by su shengliang

wood flooring and white walls complement the concrete surfaces in some gallery spaces
image by su shengliang

the long museum west bund is the institution’s second location in shanghai
image by su shengliang

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project info:

location: binjiang, xuhui district, shanghai, china
design timeline: november 2011 – july 2012
completion: march 2014
project area: 33,007 sqm
site area: 19,337 sqm
client: shanghai xuhui waterfront development, investment & construction co., ltd.
architecture: atelier deshaus / liu yichun, chen yifeng, wang longhai, wang weishi, wu zhenghui, wang xuepei, chen kun
structure, electrical, & mechanical engineering: tongji architectural design (group) co, ltd. / chao si, zhang zhun, shao xiaojian, shao zhe, zhang ying, shi you, li weijiang, kuang xingyu, zhou zhili
lighting design: shanghai guangyu lighting design co., ltd.
photography: su shengliang, xia zhi

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