SND Cultural & Sports Centre | Tianhua Architecture Planning & Engineering Ltd.

SND Cultural & Sports Centre

The SND Cultural & Sports Centre is located in Suzhou Science & Technology Town, hemmed in by the Taihu Avenue and the Huguang Canal and backed by the Little Dragon Hill. It covers an area of more than 200,000sqm and a floor area of 170,000 sqm.The aim is to make the Centre an extension of the hills in a bid to merge the entire complex into the context. The scheme, therefore, is an attempt to create an architecture that perfectly fits into its surroundings instead of a detached “square box”.In a digital era, architects aim to create spaces as intricate as the Taihu stones out of simple, abstract square units arranged in a Rubik’s Cube-like way.

photograph by © CHEN Hao

The concept of “cloud-shaped rockery” carries on the city’s tradition and symbolizes its future. In compliance with the unique spatial layout of classical gardens, the flexible spaces are designed to create further operational potential. It is perhaps this strategy that can make the programs more flexible and keep the design concept as it is when there is a need for change in the future, amid uncertainties in the domestic construction climate.The scheme shifts its focus away from serving the project’s original program to become part of our daily life, even kind of an extension: the high street, along which pedestrians are able to take a shortcut and access elsewhere, and the open spaces crisscrossing the site enable the huge complex to host residents’ daily activities.

photograph by © CHEN Hao

The terraced square on a six-meter-high platform serving as the site’s main transit area, alongside the high street, is an encapsulation of the diverse and complex urban life, in which inhabitants routinely shift between activities of the stroll, shopping, short breaks and interaction. As a multi-purpose cultural and sports complex, the SND Cultural & Sports Center is mainly designed for cultural, sports and commercial purposes, with facilities such as cultural center, library, stadium, fitness center , cinema and open-air recreation square.

photograph by © Arch-Exist

Project Info.
Architects : Tianhua Architecture Planning & Engineering Ltd.
Location : Jiangsu Province, China
Design Team : Huang Xiangming, Han Jian, Chen Yan, Zhou Xin, Bai Yu, Xiao Fei, Wang Xiaoyang, Lv Xiaoyu, Zeng Zhe, Feng Bo, Lu Yi, Liu Yang, Bi Zehao, Liu Pei, Yuan Jiani, Du Peng, Ni Ziyu, Ma Lina, Li Xinmeng, Zhang Jiangwei
Year : 2016
Type : Cultural/ Sport center
Photographs : CHEN Hao, Arch-Exist