The organic forms of the new Shenzhen Opera House embrace the natural beauty of one of the world’s fastest-growing cities. The design encourages visitors to move through and around the site, experiencing the drama of the landscape as a spectator to art and culture before ever seeing a performance.

The performance halls emerge from the landscape as sculptural forms reminiscent of bougainvillea petals, the national flower of Shenzhen. The large opera house stands tallest as a beacon from the Shekou Mountains and the Shenzhen Bay. Negotiating relationships between the mountains and the sea, shared outdoor space acts as an extension of the opera, not only for people to gather, perform, and observe one another, but also to engage with the performance of nature itself, the movement of water, the phenomena of atmosphere, and the ephemeral qualities of light. For this international design competition, we provided architecture; electrical, mechanical, and structural engineering; and sustainability design services.