National Centre for the Performing Arts

Exterior of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing I © pexels - 龔-月強

Project duration

2003 - 2006

Location

Beijing, China

Genre

Theatre, Opera, Multi-purpose

Services

Stage machinery, control system, customer service

The world’s largest new arts centre was constructed in the heart of the Chinese capital. The entire complex, designed by French architect Paul Andrieu, encompasses a theatre, an opera house, a concert hall and a mini theatre, all nestling under a huge steel-glass shell.

The centrepiece of the theatre is a revolving cylinder stage with integrated double-deck podiums, 13 of which are square and 2 rectangular. All elevators have hydraulic linear drives with a lift of over 6.8 metres. The 13 square podiums have no guiderails and are entirely independent from one another and the rigid steel support frame of the stage, while the rectangular podiums are guided. The podiums have automated or manually traps.

The overstage machinery of the theatre consists of 45 vertical drum hoists, which for space reasons are housed in two dedicated machine rooms above the side stage areas, as well as a further 16 hoists of the same type for the lighting, the cyclorama and the backstage as well as side stage areas. The vertical drums are 2.5 m long with a diameter of 162 mm. The distance between the hoists is only 200 mm. The winches are equipped with DMS shear force sensors for load measurement.

Auditorium | © SBS Bühnentechnik
Top view of the cylinder rotating stage I © SBS Bühnentechnik
Vertical drum winches I © SBS Bühnentechnik
Cylinder rotating stage | © SBS Bühnentechnik
3D visualisation of the cylinder rotating stage | © SBS Bühnentechnik
Manufacturing the winch frames I © SBS Bühnentechnik
Testing the turntable | © SBS Bühnentechnik
Motorised hoists I © SBS Bühnentechnik
Constructing the fly loft I © SBS Bühnentechnik
Image

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Download our detailed reference brochure with all technical data as a pdf file.