Hangzhou, China
2026
Hangzhou Xiaoshan Qianjiang Century City Development and Construction
Qiantang Bay Cultural District
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The Qiantang Bay Central Water Axis creates a series of new landscaped parklands, terraces and gardens along the Zhedong Canal within the Xiaoshan district of Hangzhou—redefining the former industrial areas of the canal basin into a new green corridor and that weaves through the heart of the city.
Within these waterside landscapes, cultural and educational buildings line the canal—each orientated and designed to engage with the new civic spaces along the waterfront with plazas, promenades and performance spaces for recreation, relaxation and gatherings.
A network of bridges and paths link both sides of the canal and connect the surrounding city with the landscaped gardens and parks of the new Central Water Axis. Integrated within these new civic spaces, cultural buildings designed by ZHA are defined by the district’s natural terrain, panoramas and viewpoints, in addition to public circulation routes and varying solar irradiation throughout the year.
Within this new canal-side cultural district, the library’s design by ZHA incorporates a sequence of inhabitable architectural columns. Serving as structural support and defining the institute’s identity as assembled ‘stones of knowledge’, these columns will accommodate the library’s extensive literary collections and archives, as well as reading rooms and community spaces.
Drawing on the region’s 5,000-year history of jade artistry, the library’s façade is composed of precision crafted masonry tiles inspired by the tonal qualities of this local precious stone. Folded glass elements within the façade diffuse natural light throughout the interiors, providing a soft, luminous ambience tailored for reading, study and reflection, while bringing daylight deep into the building.
Complementing the library, ZHA’s design of the new International Youth Centre offers spaces for the city’s students and visitors to meet and collaborate. The centre’s geometric composition is defined by its waterfront location. These geometries continue within its carved interior as a series of interlinked auditoriums and studios, together with spaces for seminars, conferences, exhibitions and performances. Terraces overlooking the canal extend the centre’s programming outdoors, providing areas for civic gatherings, events and socialising.
Determined by local ecology and climatic conditions, sustainable strategies are embedded within the design to enhance environmental performance across the development using energy-efficient systems and on-site power generation.
Integral to Hangzhou’s sponge-city infrastructure established to prevent flooding, the Central Water Axis landscape incorporates permeable surfaces, planted swales, and water-retention features that enhance stormwater management—creating a low-impact, high-performance civic environment which supports Hangzhou’s long-term ecological health and contributes to the resilience of the city.
Culture
From a civic art centre that unites three distinct cultural institutions to a science fiction museum whose landscaping contributes to the city’s drainage and flood defence systems, discover our latest cultural projects.
Render by Atchain
A place of convergence and collaboration, the Yidan Center will be home to the Chen Yidan Foundation in its work to promote lifelong learning and innovation in education.
Render by Proloog
Elevation River
Designed to host local and international productions of opera, dance and drama together with large-scale symphonies and musical theatre, the Art and Culture Centre includes a 1,400-seat Grand Theatre, 500-seat Black-Box Multifunctional Hall, 2,900 sq. m Arts and Education Centre, 3,000m² Conference Centre, 7,500m² Heritage Museum and a 10,000m² Digital Art Gallery.
Render by Specto-Digital
Meaning ‘inheritance passed down through generations’, Asaan will be an institution dedicated to preserving and celebrating this rich heritage, in addition to promoting creativity and knowledge sharing.
The new Nikola Tesla Museum renovates Belgrade’s historic Milan Vapa Paper Mill into a cultural destination celebrating Tesla’s legacy while preserving the city’s architectural heritage and creating a variety of new public spaces for local residents and visitors.
Courtesy of ZHA
River View
The Alisher Navoi International Scientific Research Centre will incorporate the Navoi State Museum of Literature, Auditorium, International Research Centre and School.
Render by Atchain
Jinghe New City is growing as a science and technology hub north of Xi’an in China’s Shaanxi province. Supported by new scientific research institutes and driven by environmental considerations, the city is becoming a centre for developing industries focusing on new energy and materials, artificial intelligence and aerospace.
Photograph by Virgile Simon Bertrand
Showcasing the scientific endeavour, ground-breaking research and future possibilities of technology, this new institution will explore the power of science and the technological advancements defining our future.
Photograph by Luke Hayes
The Serpentine North Gallery consists of two distinct parts, namely the conversion of a classical 19th century brick structure – The Magazine – and a 21st century tensile structure. The Serpentine North Gallery is thus – after MAXXI in Rome – the second art space where ZHA has created a synthesis of old and new.
Photograph by Fernando Guerra
An enclosed interactive space spanning the River Ebro to form a gateway to the Zaragoza Expo 2008, a hybrid of pedestrian footbridge and exhibition pavilion. Four structural elements correspond to specific spatial enclosures, which intersect and brace each other. This fluid, dynamic design interprets the Expo’s theme: ‘Water and Sustainable Development.’
Located at the entrance to Sanya’s harbour, the new cultural district by ZHA is adjacent to the Jiangang Road terminus of Sanya’s tram network that connects many of the residential and hotel districts on Sanya Bay with the city’s high-speed rail station.
Courtesy of Arch-Exist
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The new Chengdu Science Fiction Museum is situated on Jingrong Lake within the Science & Innovation New City of Chengdu’s Pidu District.
Render by Negativ
Waterfront view of new Science Centre. render by Negativ. The image is an artist’s impression, and final design may be subject to changes.
Singapore’s New Science Centre will provide unique facilities and programmes as a destination for all Singaporeans to access science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and experiences.
Courtesy of CAT-OPTOGRAM 猫瞳
Integrating three distinct cultural institutions for the city, each venue within the Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Arts Centre incorporates unique characteristics that create differing visitor experiences, yet all are united by a coherent formal and structural logic that spans 170 meters wide from east to west and 270 meters long from north to south.
Photograph by Hélène Binet
Exterior View, Dusk
MAXXI supercedes the notion of the museum as ‘object’ or – presenting a field of buildings accessible to all, with no firm boundary between what is ‘within’ and what is ‘without’. Central to this new reality are confluent lines – walls intersecting and separating to create interior and exterior spaces.
Photograph by Roland Halbe
Our extension at Ordrupgaard redefined the relationships between the museum buildings gardens, creating a new landscape both in itself and in unison with its surroundings. Design ensures that visitors’ experience is not fragmented or compartmentalized – building / collection / gardens – but a continuous, fluid interaction between different elements and aspects.
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