June 28, 2004

Chinese developer Beijing North Star has awarded U.K.-based RMJM the commission to design the Beijing Olympic Green Convention Center, one of the 2008 Olympic Games’ key venues.

Click image for larger view. Image courtesy RMJM

RMJM beat out competitors that included OMA, Philip Cox Architects, and KMD with a design that straddles several different sites of the games, and includes elevated piazzas and pedestrian bridges. The convex design of the rectilinear building’s front elevation allows for a road to flow underneath the convention center.

The biggest challenge of the project, says Gordon Affleck, an associate director for RMJM based in Hong Kong, is that the convention center is supposed to include historic themes from the Qin Dynasty because it sits midway on the games’ main boulevard. The boulevard, master planned by Sasaki Associates and Tianjin Huahui Architecture and Design Company, is a symbolic timeline of Chinese history from 3000 BC to present day.

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Since the Qin dynasty, when a common Chinese language was established and seven kingdoms were brought under one rule, was a period of unification in the 2nd century BC, RMJM came up with "a building that unifies everything with a busy public edge," says Affleck. Such elements make the convention center distinct from other exhibition halls because it has an "active external façade."

The convention center, just under 3 million square feet, will be located near many other key sites, including the main sports stadium, the swimming complex, and the Olympic Park. The convention center will house the main press center for the games and also host indoor Olympic events like fencing and pistol shooting. RMJM’s commission also includes the master planning of a nearby 30-acre site for hotel, commercial, and retail space.

But while the convention center has been made for the Beijing 2008 Olympics, Affleck says that much consideration went into making the space a multi-functionary venue that will have a lifetime that stretches well beyond the four weeks that the Olympics will last. "We see it as the Olympics as the first tenant of the exhibition center," he says. The design also includes environmentally friendly features like natural ventilation and solar panels for heating.

Jen Lin-Liu