The Bai'etan Greater Bay Area Art Center is set to open on May 1st, according to both the design and construction teams. However, the exact date is subject to official confirmation. As the Lunar New Year began, approximately 200 workers were busy on-site at the Bai'etan Greater Bay Area Art Center, engaged in the construction of outdoor facilities and the interior decoration of exhibition halls.
Located in the core area of the Bai'etan Central Business Zone, at the convergence of the Pearl River's front and rear channels, facing Shamian Island across the river, the building stands at a height of 78.5 meters with 11 above-ground floors and 2 underground levels. It is envisioned to become a significant iconic public cultural facility showcasing Guangdong's characteristics and international standards, providing citizens with a large cultural center integrating exhibitions, leisure, and education.
The Guangdong Art Museum features 11 floors and an exhibition area of 19,000 square meters. Equipped with a lecture hall, it can accommodate diverse needs such as artwork exhibitions, international lectures, and cultural performances, with a capacity of up to 350 people.
Within the Guangdong Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition Center, a brand-new intangible heritage theater has taken shape, featuring GRG acoustic materials on the ceiling and walls to enhance audio-visual effects. As the largest theater in the project, it can accommodate 524 people simultaneously and host performances of various intangible heritage projects such as traditional music, traditional opera, and traditional dance.
Designed by a team led by Chinese Academy of Engineering academician He Jingtang from South China University of Technology, the building stretches 350 meters from east to west, with heights ranging from 30 to 80 meters in a cascading manner. Its clean and sleek white facade resembles a white giant ship ready to set sail.
Yin Can, project manager of the Bai'etan Greater Bay Area Art Center project at China Construction Third Engineering Bureau, explained that traditional curtain walls often use aluminum materials, giving a cold impression. The project broke down the 80,000-square-meter curtain wall into smaller parts, utilizing a large quantity of customized glazed ceramic panels and glazed glass, with the ceramic panels alone numbering over 10,000 pieces, a first of its kind in Guangzhou.
"We installed projections on some glass surfaces, including the six sides and various curved surfaces of the tower, allowing them to display videos like movie screens," said project decoration engineer Hong Xiaojun. During this year's Lunar New Year fireworks display on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the exterior lights of the Bai'etan Greater Bay Area Art Center all lit up, becoming a prominent urban backdrop. The project will become one of the protagonists in the Pearl River waterfront light show.
Reporter | Clarice
Photo provided to GDToday
Editor | Nan, Abby, James
