morphosis architects unveils plans for nanjing conference center in china

morphosis architects, the US firm led by thom mayne, has unveiled plans for a conference center to be built in the chinese city of nanjing. situated at a key position between china’s eastern coastal cities and the yangtze river delta region, the nanjing new jiangbei district is emerging as a major epicenter for global business. designed to be both sustainable and ecologically-sensitive, the ‘nanjing conference center’ represents a flagship project for this new district.

all images courtesy of morphosis architects

sited on the banks of the yangtze river, the building comprises a podium, which contains more than 36,000 square meters of conference spaces, and a tower that holds a 375-key, 4-star hotel, with rooms oriented to face the river. ‘in the podium, the immense program area of the convention center is organized systematically by cladded box trusses, which define a flexible series of conference spaces flanking a central 200-meter arcade that bisects the building into a north and south wing,’ explains morphosis. ‘this arcade serves as the primary circulation spine for the building, intersected by short, perpendicular bridges providing access from VIP entrances and the hotel tower.’

the entrance to the convention center is illuminated by a large skylight, which frames overhead views of the hotel tower. this structure has been designed with two contrasting façades: on the city side, a fully-unitized aluminum frame holds a series of frit glass panels, intended to give the exterior a blurred effect that reflects the city context. meanwhile, on the river side, the sinuous quality of the landscape and façade mirror the organic nature of the river’s edge.

the river-facing south façade features a rippling metal and glass brise-soleil comprised of over 90,000 metallic panels. the brise-soleil reduces heat gain and contributes to the energy-efficiency of the building, which is designed to achieve a 3-star rating, the highest sustainable design grade recognized by china’s national green building standard.

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project info:

name: nanjing conference center
location: nanjing, china
client: nanjing planning bureau
site area: 21.60 acres / 8.74 hectares
size: 1,937,504 gross sqf / 180,000 gross sqm
program: large scale exhibition and conference spaces, hotel and amenities, office
design: 01/19 (begin) – present
construction: 06/19 (begin) – 06/21 (projected)
LEED rating (or similar): 3-star rating
type: governmental / commercial / hospitality

morphosis architects project credits —
design director: thom mayne
project principal: eui-sung yi
project manager: hann-shiuh chen
project architect: carolyn ng
project designer: daniel pruske, karim saleh, christopher wang
project team: paul choi, stuart franks, farah harake, salvador hidalgo, janice kim, edmund kwong, yining wang
project assistants: tony avila, javier benavides, lauren buntemeyer, andres conejero, colleen fellows, fredy gomez, alessio grancini, eric meyer, anthony mull, danny ortega, francois rucki, kevin sani, yasmine suleiman
advanced technology: kerenza harris, kwang wook ryu, stan su, atsushi sugiuchi
visualization: jasmine park, ilko iliev