Shanghai Grand Opera House is a vision realized by Snøhetta, the architectural firm co-founded by Thorsen, responsible for this iconic project. Thorsen, one of Snøhetta's founders, commented, "The Shanghai Grand Opera House represents a practice of adapting to local conditions, embodying the high regard both the client and our design team have for utilizing public spaces for the benefit of the people. Through its design, the opera house enhances the sense of public ownership, offering a stage not just for the citizens of Shanghai but for all of China and the world."
Located in the Expo Houtan neighborhood, along the banks of the Huangpu River, the Shanghai Grand Opera House is more than an emblematic cultural building; it is a masterpiece where architectural aesthetics are seamlessly integrated. Each detail of this site has been meticulously crafted, combining UHPC (Ultra-High Performance Concrete), wood, and NorthGlass glass into a modernist architectural style filled with aesthetic appeal.
The opera house includes public lobbies, a grand opera hall, a medium-sized opera hall, and a chamber opera hall, and is set to open in 2025. Its exterior, spiraling outward from the public lobby, resembles a gently unfolding Chinese fan. The immense white staircase spirals upward, extending into the sky like the handle of a fan, elegant yet simple, lending the structure dynamic beauty and embodying the distinctive characteristics of the East.
The fan's handle and the three opera halls are adorned with NorthGlass's large curtain wall glass. The Shanghai Grand Opera House primarily uses multi-layer ultra-white tempered homogeneous laminated insulating glass, featuring a 4-layer laminated hollow as its main characteristic. The grand opera hall is equipped with nearly 13 meters high, 8-layer super large and thick laminated insulating glass, covering a total area of about 16,000 square meters.
The fan shape embodies significant symbolism in traditional Chinese culture, presenting an eye-catching design that slowly unfolds along the Huangpu River, offering an international aesthetic while showcasing a Chinese ambiance.
The plaza of the opera house serves as an open space, accessible to visitors 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The ultra-high glass curtain walls bathe the auditorium in natural light, allowing the architectural space to shift atmospheres between daylight and season. At night, the external lighting transforms the appearance of the stage tower, making the opera house resemble a glowing lantern, illuminating the rooftop.
The Shanghai Grand Opera House is a collaborative design effort between the renowned Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta and the East China Architectural Design & Research Institute (ECADI), with Shanghai Mei Shi Design Studio acting as the curtain wall consultant and Shenzhen Sanxin contributing to the creation of the opera house's curtain wall system. This collaboration has produced a perfect piece of architectural art and technological innovation, highlighting NorthGlass's unique contributions to the field of glass craftsmanship. This remarkable collaboration adds an eye-catching cultural landmark to the city, setting a new benchmark for the flourishing development of the cultural industry.