The Jiaxing High-Speed Rail New Town Cultural Center has officially opened in Jiaxing, China, marking a significant achievement in sustainable public architecture. Designed by THAD SUP Atelier, the 26,082-square-meter facility serves as a civic landmark and community gathering space. The project was completed in 2025 and represents a new model for cultural infrastructure that prioritizes accessibility, environmental performance, and social vitality. Photographs by Xinxing Chen and Weizhi Gao document the building's striking form and public engagement. The center exemplifies contemporary Chinese architecture's shift toward human-centered, ecologically integrated design.
Strategically positioned at a key node in the city's water and landscape network, the cultural center occupies a site with open waterfronts to the north and west and major roads to the south and east. The design team conceived the building as the "City Living Room" and "Eye of the Town," anchoring the community core surrounded by residential neighborhoods, schools, and a hospital. This location ensures the facility serves as a daily destination for diverse user groups. The architecture responds to both urban connectivity and natural landscape contexts. Its placement maximizes public accessibility while creating a distinctive civic identity that catalyzes district vitality.
Openness and civic sharing define the project's spatial strategy, with flexible zoning that accommodates exhibitions, performances, and cultural activities throughout the day. Major volumes, including the exhibition hall and theater, are located on the ground floor for maximum accessibility and operational efficiency. The theater features a separate northwest entrance, enabling independent operation during evenings and weekends to support the local nighttime economy. An innovative "three mountains embracing two rivers" concept creates a three-dimensional public street hovering above exhibition spaces, allowing citizens to stroll and enjoy urban scenery without entering formal galleries. Rooftop plazas and elevated streets provide panoramic waterfront views and create a 24-hour open landmark.
The design responds to the region's mild, humid climate through adaptive spatial strategies that minimize energy demand. Circulation paths and exhibition areas function as semi-outdoor zones, reducing the need for heating and cooling. Outdoor platforms feature BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaics) canopies and native vegetation, creating comfortable microclimates while generating renewable energy. The waterfront landscape incorporates multi-level ecological wetland terraces integrated into stormwater management and sponge city systems. This approach transforms natural water level fluctuations into design opportunities, establishing a resilient landscape paradigm that addresses climate variability while supporting biodiversity and ecological health.
The project achieves remarkable structural efficiency through a "flexible cable-rigid support synergy" system that reduces steel usage by 23 percent compared to preliminary estimates. High-strength prestressed cables form rhythmic spatial trusses that carry horizontal loads while creating continuous, lightweight forms. The roof serves as a multi-functional element for daylighting, energy generation, and rainwater management, with parametric design coordinating slope, drainage, PV layout, and shading. Complex areas are clad in aluminum panels, while square skylights with diffused ETFE provide uniform natural light for semi-outdoor spaces. A steel-wood composite roof, elevated 1.1 meters, accommodates PV arrays and drainage systems.
An intelligent "PV-Storage-DC-Flexible" energy strategy creates an efficient system tailored to the building's varied uses, following a "PV first, storage-assisted, grid backup" principle. Real-time monitoring platforms track indoor and outdoor conditions, enabling dynamic energy control and optimizing microclimate comfort. The interior design focuses on key areas such as the entrance hall, theater, and cinema lobby, with finishes carefully selected to balance aesthetics, sustainability, and user comfort. Acoustic performance is enhanced through simulation-driven design featuring perforated curved panels with Helmholtz resonance and MLS diffusers. This integration of technology and design positions the center as a model for future cultural infrastructure that seamlessly integrates community needs with environmental responsibility.
