case study on The Egg Building in China – National Centre for Performing Arts. by manjul gambhir

1. The Egg Building in China – National
Centre for Performing Arts

2. ABOUT
Type:- Arts complex
Location:- Beijing, China
Architect:- Paul Andreu
Construction started:- December 2001
Completed:-July 2007
Opened:-December 2007
Cost:- 300 million€
Height:-46.28 m
Structural system
Ellipsoid dome of titanium and glass
surrounded by an artificial lake
Floor area:- 219,400 m

3. CONCEPT
➢ FLOATING EGG
➢ CURTAIN OPENING

4. The NCPA was designed by French architect Paul
Andreu, and houses an opera house capable of
seating 2,416, a concert hall seating 2,017, a
theatre seating 1,040, and a smaller multi-function
theatre.
During the day, light flows through the glass roof
into the building. At night, the movements within
can be seen from outside. The building houses three
performance auditoriums

5. Design and construction
The building is an ellipsoid dome of titanium and glass, designed to resemble an egg floating
on water
The dome has a maximum span of 213 m (in its east-west direction), a minimum span of
144 m (north-south), and reaches a height of 46 m. The total area of the building is
12,000 sq.m.
Visitors reach the building through the Underwater Corridor, a hallway that
stretches beneath the lake from the green ring. The glass ceiling allows light to pass
through from the water, producing a shimmering effect.

6. From the north entrance you
descend a grand staircase to the
Underwater Corridor that stretches
80 meters beneath the outdoor lake.
The glass ceiling allows the light to
shimmer through the lake water.
When illuminated at night the curved cut in the
titanium shell is reminiscent of a stage curtain being
pulled back.

7. EXTERIOR
The Dome
The dome measures 212 meters (696 ft) in east-west direction,
144 meters (472 feet) in north-south direction, and is 46 meters
(151 ft) high. The exterior showcases an ingenious material
integration of over 18,000 titanium plates and over 1,000 sheets
of ultra-white glass, a low-iron glass known for its high rate of
light transmission.
The Lake
Taking an area of 35,500 square meters (377,000 sq ft), the
mirror-like lake surrounding the Centre combines with the silent
oval shell to create an atmosphere of tranquility surrounding the
artistic vigor and passion within.
The Green Belt
Around the lake is a 39,000 square meter (420,000 sq ft) green
belt, affording the surrounding neighborhood a highly desirable
sense of serenity amid the hustle and bustle of a modern city and
keeping the NCPA in a tranquil green garden.

8. INTERIOR
The floor in the huge Foyer is covered in stone from 10 different regions in China, the interior walls are
lined with tens of thousands of panels of jequitiba, also known as Brazilian rosewood.

9. The Opera House
The magnificent Opera House is mainly
used to stage operas, dance dramas,
ballets, and large-scale shows. The arc-
shaped metal net wall of the auditorium
changes the lights and shadows
according to different circumstance to
bring the audience into the immersed
artistic space with the development of
plots. The surface of the ballet stage is
made of Oregon timber and its triple-
layer construction ensures the greatest
possible resilience, helping to protect the
feet of dancers. The Opera House can
seat 2,416 people.

10. The Concert Hall
the silver white Concert Hall is the
venue for mainly large symphonic
and national music performances.
The audience can enjoy all
performances from any angle. The
Concert Hall is home to a giant pipe
organ, the “Hall Guardian”,
which is believed to be the largest of
its kind in China with 94 stops and
an impressive array of 6,500 pipes.
The over-100-ton white ceiling of
the Concert Hall is specially designed
to embody an ideal integration
between architectural and acoustic
aesthetics. The Concert Hall seats
2,017 people.

11. The Theatre
The Theatre is a tribute to the
traditional theatre atmosphere of
warmth and hospitality, and
stages primarily traditional
Chinese operas, stage plays and
national song and dance. The
vertical stripes in purple, dark
red, orange and yellow regularly
alternate with each other on the
walls to express a sense of
vividness in quiet, and
imagination in realization. The
Theater Hall is used for plays and
the Beijing opera. It has 1,040
seats

15. THANK YOU
MANJUL GAMBHIR
16BAR1043