National Portrait Gallery
Europe
View Project
Canal Arts Centre
- Location
- Hangzhou, China
- Client
- Grandjoy Holdings Group
- Services
- Architecture, Urban Design, Interior Design
- Sector
- Culture + Civic
- Size
- 10,000m²
From thermal power plant to beacon for arts and culture
The Hangzhou Canal Arts Center occupies the site of a former thermal power plant in the Gongshu District of Hangzhou, on the southern reach of China’s Grand Canal and part of a wider urban regeneration of the district. Designed, by Benoy for Grandjoy Holdings Group, as a piece of cultural infrastructure for the new quarter, sitting alongside the Benoy-designed Joy City Hangzhou mixed-use scheme. The design reflects on the site’s evolution from a working power plant to a green arts complex serving the local community.
The architectural response is a sequence of connected volumes, with public space threaded through the development. Courtyards, corridors and semi-open spaces blur the line between interior and exterior, and the scheme is a piece of public realm as a defined cultural building. The form integrates with the surrounding landscape and existing thoroughfares rather than imposing a new urban geometry on them.
A restrained material palette as a backdrop for activity
The façade is composed of plain concrete, weather-resistant steel plates, wood and metal mesh, a restrained palette acting as the canvas for the activity within and around the building. Programme includes art exhibitions, weekend markets, and space for sports and recreation. The centre opened in 2019 and forms part of the wide Grand Canal regeneration of Gongshu, alongside the Grand Canal Central Park, Grand Canal Grand Theatre and Grand Canal Asian Games Park.
