The Hengqin Culture & Art Complex currently under construction will have overlapping urban balconies on which to hold wedding or birthday parties, teach children to play X-sports, or sip tea in a secrete upper garden by December 2023.

Rendering of Hengqin Culture & Art Complex [Photo courtesy Hengqin New Area Administrative Committee]

Located in the Hengqin Comprehensive Service Zone west of Hengqin Checkpoint, the 40,227-sqm (10-acre) site is encased by Qinzheng, Haojiang, Qinfei, and Qinlang roads. The 47-m-high (154-ft-high) building will have a steel framework and shear and glazed glass curtain walls. Being constructed are three continuous arched sections of descending height from north to south to reflect Hengqin's mountain and adjacent Tianmu River Landscape Belt.

The complex will have floorage of 142,560 sqm (35 acres) for a library, cinema, science-technology museum, gallery, and archival center. There also will be sections for cultural activities, children, teenagers, and seniors.

"Each arch has a unique character," states Shenzhen design firm Yunchao Xu/Atelier Apeiron. "In the knowledge hall, crystal book blocks build up a vertical village area for all ages of readers. Performance hall in the middle has a big open stage and a black box theater for dancing, concerts, dramas, and operas. By scattering mysterious light into the space, the spiral in the exhibition hall joints science and art."