Zhejiang Museum of Natural History in China by David Chipperfield Architects

Article source: David Chipperfield Architects

Founded in 1929, the Zhejiang Museum of Natural History is located in Hangzhou and has a collection of over 200,000 specimens covering geology, ecology and palaeontology. The eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang is the site of many important discoveries from the Cretaceous period. A new, second branch of the museum has been established in Anji, in the north of the region, forming the centrepiece of a new cultural district.

The new museum is set on a sloping site in a large natural park surrounded by bamboo forests and overlooking rice fields in the valley below. It comprises a loose infrastructure of spacious exhibition halls, taking into account the large scale of some of the exhibits: Dinosaur fossils and life-size models, large-scale wildlife dioramas, accompanied by multimedia and interactive exhibition elements.

Image Courtesy © Simon Menges

• Architects: David Chipperfield Architects
  
• Project: Zhejiang Museum of Natural History
  
• Location: Zhejiang, China
  
• Photography: Simon Menges
  
• Client: Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, People’s Government of Anji County
  
• Partners: David Chipperfield, Mark Randel (Design lead), Libin Chen
  
• Project Architects: Alessandro Milani (Competition), Miguel Angel (Preparation and brief to Developed design), Shen Huiwen (Developed design, Design intent details), Chuxiao Li (Site design supervision)
  
• Project Team: Hans Christian Buhl, Zhexu Du, Tianyuan Fan, Jinghui Hou, Andrew Irvin, Han Li, Huiqun Liu, Jidi Pan, Fengjuan Sun, Nora Wuttke, Liping Xu, Zhixun Zhou; Visualisation: Andrew Irvin
  

Image Courtesy © Simon Menges

• Competition Team: Zhexu Du, Fengjuan Sun, Nora Wuttke, Liping Xu; Graphics, Visualisation: Alessandro Milani, Zhexu Du In collaboration with
  
• Local Design Institute: Zhejiang South Architecture Design Ltd., Hangzhou (Technical design to Construction supervision)
  
• Structural Engineer: Ove Arup and Partners Ltd., Shanghai (Concept design); Zhejiang South Architecture Design Ltd., Hangzhou (Developed design to Construction supervision)
  
• Services Engineer: Ove Arup and Partners Ltd., Shanghai (Concept design); Zhejiang South Architecture Design Ltd., Hangzhou (Developed design to Construction supervision)
  
• Building Physics, Acoustics: Zhejiang South Architecture Design Ltd., Hangzhou
  
• Lighting Consultant: Sunlux Lighting Design, Hangzhou
  
• Exhibition Planning: Triad China Ltd., Shanghai
  
• Landscape Architect: Zhejiang South Architecture Design Ltd., Hangzhou (Developed design to Construction supervision)
  
• Gross Floor Area: 58,000 m²
  
• Competition: 2014
  
• Project Start: 2014
  
• Construction Start: 2015
  
• Completion: 2018
  
• Opening: 2019

Image Courtesy © Simon Menges

Image Courtesy © Simon Menges

The staggered composition of the eight, single-storey, bar-shaped pavilions step down the hillside. They follow the natural topography, minimising the visual impact on the landscape, and frame an open garden. A loggia, or covered walkway, loops around this central space, mediating between the external and internal areas of the museum.

At the northernmost point, an entrance pavilion welcomes visitors and offers views over the central garden and landscape beyond. Located on either side of the garden, each exhibition hall can be accessed directly or in sequence following the stepped loggia. The southernmost pavilion faces out towards a lake at the lowest end of the site.

Image Courtesy © Simon Menges

Image Courtesy © Simon Menges

The solid forms of the pavilions are embedded within the dense landscaping of the central garden and the surrounding parkland. The planting extends onto the green roofs of the building complex which is rendered in red ochre to match the clay earth of the hillside site, reinforcing the relationship between the museum and the landscape.

Image Courtesy © David Chipperfield Architects

Image Courtesy © David Chipperfield Architects

Image Courtesy © David Chipperfield Architects

Image Courtesy © David Chipperfield Architects

Image Courtesy © David Chipperfield Architects

Image Courtesy © David Chipperfield Architects

Image Courtesy © David Chipperfield Architects

Image Courtesy © David Chipperfield Architects

Image Courtesy © David Chipperfield Architects

Image Courtesy © David Chipperfield Architects

Tags: China, Zhejiang

Categories: complex, Museum

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