gmp Architekten just won the first prize in the competition to design the 1.2 million square-meter Tianjin Exhibition Center. Now the third city where an exhibition center of international importance will be built after Shanghai and Guangzhou, their design concept proposes two almost identical construction phases. They both consist of a central entrance hall roofed over by filigree canopies, 8 exhibition halls on both sides and a main central thoroughfare that connects the entrance halls with the exhibition halls. More images and architects' description after the break.
With a total square area of 1.2 million square meters and dedicated exhibition floor space of 400,000 square meters, one of the world’s largest exhibition centers will be created in the east of China over the next few years. The site is located at Tianjin Avenue, the main traffic artery which links Tianjin’s historic center with the so-called Binhai Development Area at the coast of the Yellow Sea. To the north, the site borders the river Haihe which is instrumental in shaping the character of the city. The exhibition ground’s central access avenue runs between these two poles and thus generates a spatial connection between the traffic artery and the waterway.
The functions of the exhibition center are rounded off with open-air exhibition space, a congress center, hotels, offices and administration facilities.The entire exhibition floor space is located on one level. The central access avenue is elevated 9 m above the exhibition and road level. Access to the exhibition halls and the congress center is from here.
The exhibition halls, which are arranged in a linear layout with a floor space of 12,500 square meters each, can be used separately or combined with an adjoining hall to provide a total of 25,000 square meters of space. The shed-type roof structure of the halls allows the ingress of daylight. With a display of gardens, open air areas and restaurants, the circulation areas provide a convivial atmosphere.
Architects: gmp Architekten
Location: Tianjin, China
Design: Meinhard von Gerkanand, Stephan Schütz, with Nicolas Pomränke
Project Management, Competition: Simon Schetter, Patrick Pfleiderer
Team, Competition: Helene Käschel, Katja Pötzsch, Jens Förster, Keke Ye, Stefan Hornscheidt, Bernd Gotthardt, Ulrike Finkbeiner, Thilo Zehme, Jan Deml, Zhou Bin, George Liang, Christian Machnacki, Gai Xudong, Wu Di, Wang Jue, Lin Wei
Project Management, Planning: Stephan Rewolle, Matthias Wiegelmann, Bao Wei
Team, Planning: Lin Wei, Tian Xueli, Mulyanto, Wu Di, Stefan Hornscheidt, Yulia Gandasari
Client: Tianjin Planning Bureau
Gross Floor Area: 1,200,000 square meters, additional space for urban design purposes: 2,150,000 square meters
