Guangzhou-Baiyun International Convention Centre project by BURO II
Belgian architect’s BURO II, with offices in Roeselare, Ghent, Brussels and China, has won the civic category at the World Architecture Festival which held from 22 to 24 October, 2008 with the ‘Baiyun International Convention Centre’ project in China.
For an architect’s office this is like winning the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. There are 16 other categories in addition to ‘civic’: from ‘housing’ and ‘offices’ to ‘energy waste & recycling’. Other nominated projects at the World Architecture Festival were the Oslo Opera House, the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, etc.
The international jury was chaired by Lord Norman Foster. The ‘global winner’ was the Bocconi University in Milan by Grafton Architects. The jury chose the project of BURO II because it succeeds in breaking the enormous scale of the project by integrating nature in the design.
Local anchorage and energetic concept
The BURO II architects chose to develop this project in co-operation and interaction with the Chinese partner. This intercultural team approach resulted in a balance of perception, culture, innovation and technicality thanks to which the project breathes unity.
The basic concept is ‘linking nature and town’, intertwining the congress centre as a transit between nature and the city. The new volumes are like foothills of the Baiyun Mountain. Four eco-bridges were designed which cross the motorway and connect the congress centre with the surrounding mountains.
By using the history of the city, the symbols and materials of the emperor’s tomb and local materials such as red sandstone, the buildings are anchored on this site. The congress centre becomes more than a building: it is a meeting point between East and West.
The 300,000 m² project comprises three buildings with congress facilities and auditoriums for 2,500, 1,000 and 500 people; the two buildings on the outside are hotels with 500 or 600 rooms each. Western and Chinese culture merge on the inside. Energy-regulating buffer zones are also used as circulation areas.
Unique, and typical for BURO II, is how this design was realised. The design process and construction process ran largely concurrent. Through workshops the three teams (BURO II, CITIC and the client) worked parallel to each other.
This open and participative process resulted in a multitude of input in a very short period. A year and a half later the congress centre was built. The local population recognises the congress centre as a modern expression of a hidden cultural tradition. Or how globalisation can be used as a platform to develop a sustainable cultural exchange.
The Guangzhou-Baiyun project was realised with CITIC, Design institute of China and a multidisciplinary team:
- Laurent Ney & Partners (Belgium) – structural design
- Ingenium nv (Belgium) – technical design
- Daidalos (Belgium) – energy and acoustics
- TTAS bvba (Belgium) – theatre techniques
- Stefaan Thiers en Denis Dujardin (Belgium) – landscape design
- Van Santen & Ass. (France) – façade engineering
- Lens°Ass (Belgium) – interior design
BURO II Roeselare (Headquarter)
Hoogleedsesteenweg 415
B-8800 Roeselare
P. +32 51 21 11 05
F. +32 51 22 46 74
info@buro2.be
www.buro2.be
www.worldarchitecturefestival.com
www.world-architects.com\belgium
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