China’s Sanya Cultural District competition winning design visualized

The competition for the new Cultural District in the Chinese city of Sanya was completed in late September and resulted in a winning design by Zaha Hadid Architects, which resembles floating overlapping sails in a sea breeze.

Furthermore, Sanya is China’s southernmost city, located on Hainan Island, and is the only one that combines ocean views with a tropical rainforest, while it attracts some 80 million tourists per year.

As for the Cultural District, it is going to occupy 26.7 hectares of the city’s waterfront, and will include public plazas, gardens, marinas, a harborside boardwalk, as well as cultural, exhibition and conference facilities.

The total new harborside district is going to measure 409,000 m² of built area and also include city-center residencies, hotels, office spaces, shopping and dining areas.

Hainan is a province with a tropical climate, which is influenced by monsoons during the season between May and October, and annual precipitation can exceed 145 inches.

The eye-catching building incorporates low-carbon design in all of the project’s phases and its sail-like roof will feature solar panels along with a rainwater collection system, while it will also include deep overhanging eaves, which will help shade interiors and provide shelter for the exterior spaces.

It is worth mentioning that the district’s design has also taken into consideration orientation and landscaping, so that natural lighting and ventilation are optimized.

A central plant has also been incorporated, which will facilitate sea water heat exchangers that will be used for air cooling.

Finally, the building is also going to feature a smart system that will automatically adjust shading, lighting and ventilation, achieving optimal efficiency.