Shenzhen Maritime Base and Sports Schools / 2A2 Design Department, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD)

Curated by ArchDaily

Architects: Beijing Institute of Architectural Design
Area: 27180 m²
Year: 2011
Photographs:Yang Chaoying

Text description provided by the architects. The design of the venue for Shenzhen 26th world university sailing competition, the "Marine sport base", is a way of thinking and practice to explore site characteristics and find the method to adjust sustainable development in specialized architectural technology. Researching and comparing with the similar project, and summarizing the key points in designing sailing and wind surfing venues; exploring the potential value of tourism and leisure that this kind of architecture can bring to the coastal city.

In August 2011, we successfully held the 26th Summer World University Games in ShenZhen, the President of the International University Sports Federation, Claude Louis Gallien highly praised “it is extremely wonderful, which became the best one in the history of the World University Games.

2A2 Design Department of Beijing Institute of Architectural Design participated in sailing, sailboard venues and auxiliary constructions for 26th World University Games, and undertook the general contract of design. This is another successful design for sailing, sailboard venues for International Sports Games that Beijing Institute of Architectural Design achieved, after we designed for Qingdao Olympic Sailing Center in China.

The sailing, sailboard venues and auxiliary constructions is composed of three projects, these are “Maritime Sports Base” for sailboard venues, “Competition Infrastructures in QiXing Bay” for sailing tournament facilities, and “Marine Navigation Sports School” for auxiliary constructions. The “Maritime Sports Base” and “Marine Navigation Sports School" are located in Judiao Shapian Area, Nan’ao Town, Longgang District, Shenzhen, the Xindong Road divided it into Northern and Southern part. The "Competition Infrastructures QiXing Bay” is located in Dongshan Community, Nanao Town, Longgang District, Shenzhen, 5 minutes ride from “Maritime Sports Base”. The scale and the function of these three projects are as follows:

The total land area of “Maritime Sports Base” is 3.79 hm2, while the land-based area and breakwater area is 2.22 hm2, and basin area is 45800 m2, the base area is divided into seven functional areas according to the technological process and the requirements of the Games, these are venue operation area, sports competition area, athletes and team officials area, venue concierge area, TV broadcasting area, media area and audience activity area. Total construction area is10480 m2, parking lot for 205 yachts, 70 land shipping spaces, 20 container ports and 86 parking spaces for all kinds of vehicle, its construction scale can meet requirements for all kinds of domestic and international sailing and sailboard events, can carry out sea sports’ daily training and teaching, and popularize and propagate sail and sailing knowledge to the public, at the same time can promote the local tourism, vacation tourism, and the vigorous development to the sea sports cultural industry.

“Weaken the influence of architecture”, lower the artificial position in architectural forms and abandon the pure-form language. Meanwhile, weaken the peculiarity of single building to unify the scattered architectural monomer by simple logic and gather parts into a whole; protrude community relations of buildings, so that the architectural monomer is hidden in the overall environment.

“Make a scientific arrangement”, on the basis of in-depth site analysis and in terms of the technological requirements, orderly configurate building group in the nature. According to local conditions, the architectural monomer is fully fit the surrounding terrain and the environment, thus naturally showing the well-proportioned architectural image which is distinct both vertically and horizontally. Finally, in combining with the size and functional features of the constructions, cleverly arrange each single building so that the entire architectural group organically and perfectly blends into the background of mountains, sea and sky silhouette.

“Use humanity with caution”. On such fully ecological and virgin land, if a group of buildings with heavy “culture” are evolved, they will destroy eternal wildness of such land like a humanity bomb. Thus, efforts should be made to weaken complicated and multiple cultural symbolic meaning of buildings, but take simple and abstract geometric shape so as to respond to nature coordinately. We use stretching curve to express softness and spirit of the sea, and strong geometry to respond to force and perseverance of mountains and rocks which are enough for us.

“Simplicity, propriety and freedom” ----explanation to architecture space and formal logic We entitle simple "rectangle box and horizontal batten " as composed elements, and display interesting freedom of space and form subject through reversing and moving those two variable techniques under the control of limited architecture modules and measures. Meanwhile, based on the analysis of various functional ethnology, materialize those "box and batten" through roof garden overspread with plastic & wood composite, large and wide terrace, transparent glass screen towards sea to deepen the further consideration and research of space and form.

“Four Innovations and Four Saving Measures”- the response of sustainable development "Energy conservation and sustainable development" is the strategic planning for the development of "environment-friendly and resource-conserving society" and the promotion and application of “Four Innovations and Four Saving Measures” construction technology is also the positive response of sustainable development. After careful planning, the project effectively uses some new technologies, new materials and energy-saving measures.

Four innovations: Since in hydraulic aspect we use the first self-designed large-volume reinforced concrete pontoon (thin-walled high-performance concrete floating body) technology in China, compared to ordinary steel floating dock, the dock has advantages of strong ability of resisting wind and waves, good stability, non pollution and low cost, and also eliminating blocks from sight by integrating dock basin into the shore area; in geotechnical aspect we use bent pile anti-slide technology (the front and back row of bent pile are connected by connecting plate to improve the overall stiffness and skid resistance) and slab-pile wall technology (the built-in part uses a round pile and the free end a square one, transforming pile type up and down through contacting beam to improve the speed and safety).

Four Saving Measures: As to equipment, we use solar collection and air source heat pump combined heating measures; In electricity, we use digital dimming and high and low voltage power loop monitoring technology to have good performance in energy-saving, electricity-saving aspects. The project also extensively uses environment friendly building materials, such as permeable bricks, eco plastic wood, aluminum honeycomb panels to achieve the purpose of material-saving and energy consumption reduction.

“Marine Navigation Sports School” is located in Judiao Shapian Area, Nan’ao Town, Longgang District, Shenzhen, the Xindong Road divided it into Northern and Southern part. It is one of the important auxiliary constructions for the sailing and sailboard event of the Games and will be the operation supporting facility after the Games. The school has a total land area of 4.39 hectares, which divided into 10 buildings according to function, with a total construction area 16700 m2. A full-time education is for middle school and high school, total 6 grades, 2 classes for each grade, about 50 people, total we have 300 students studying in the school. And we have 50 school staffs. 100 athletes and 20 coaches can use school facilities for the coaching session at the same time in the entire year. During the Games the “Marine Navigation School” can be converted to supporting facilities for the athletes, combined with QiXing Bay, it can receipt 3000 people during the event.

Planning: the land is divided into teaching area, training area and living area these three parts, each part is standing on different level of the ground. In teaching area and living area it makes a circle development along the site, lifts up the level gradually, the site is at the foot of the mountain and hold the sea in the arms, the training area is located in the center of the site, closely linked the teaching and living area through the corridor in north south direction. Training area and the sports fields stand opposite, combined with the terrain condition it becomes an important visual corridor, to maximize striving a high quality landscape resources. Its curve layout is responding the rectangular layout of the "Maritime Sports Base" on the west.

Architecture: considering the terrain, we adopt the ventilated architectural forms, such as in picturesque disorder, setting side corridor etc; and adopt shading facilities and roof greening method to block the sunshine as far as possible in the prerequisite to meet the lighting requirements; take corrosion-resistance coating as the main building material, which saves the cost; due to the side corridor and sun shield, the façade formed a continuous horizontal lines, increase the overall sense of associative perception and landmark.

Located in Dongshan Community, Nan’ao Town, Longgang District, Shenzhen City, the Competition Infrastructures in QiXing Bay is the sailing tournament facilities of the 26th World University Games in Shenzhen, undertaking Universiade maritime events with the sailboard venues. The project comprises three constructions: the command center of Qixing Bay, measurement hall and boathouse, with the overall floorage 6143.7 square meters. Due to the investment budget for the project, the comprehensive unilateral cost of the construction is only 2200 ~ 3000 yuan / square meter (including sports craft intellectualized systems), so how to create a suitable, proper and attractive architectural form in the situation of low cost control and quota design is the challenge that we are facing.

Shenzhen Maritime Base and Sports Schools / 2A2 Design Department, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD) - Image 36 of 43 — Floor Plan

Interpretation for the present form here In contrast to land sites, the constructions located on the artificial land bunding have excessively small architectural scale. Therefore, starting from the wholeness and gathering parts into a whole, the design unifies the size, shape, structure and color of three single building to integrate them into a group of appropriately-sized pure white geometry block, conveying wise and firm architectural style in the background of green trees, the shadow of mountains, blue sky and bluish waves.

Low-cost construction strategy Adopting the most basic structural unit ”concrete hollow block” as the creative material of envelope structure, combined with a few of inexpensive glass hollow brick, the constructions arrange and combine these elements by simple logic through “modulus”, achieving “digital wave” effect which can be interpreted as either illusion or reality. Inexpensive materials, simple crafts, reasonable structure and flexible form embody the consideration of building low-cost constructions.