Paul Andreu’s Shanghai Oriental Art Center uses SentryGlas® ionoplast interlayer for "magical" facades

The Shanghai Oriental Art Center encompasses a 1,979-seat philharmonic orchestra hall, a 1,054-seat lyric theatre, and a 330-seat chamber music hall.

The Shanghai Oriental Art Center encompasses a 1,979-seat philharmonic orchestra hall, a 1,054-seat lyric theatre, and a 330-seat chamber music hall. The facade's laminated glass construction incorporates SentryGlas® ionoplast interlayer, combined with perforated metal sheeting at upper levels for sun screening.

In the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, China, architect Paul Andreu of Paris has created a building that is “bright and transparent as if by magic” in the words of the architect. However, like the best architectural magic, the building’s foundations are rooted in meticulous engineering. One of the most impressive aspects of this is state-of-the-art architectural façade technology incorporating laminated glass with SentryGlas® structural interlayer, supplied by leading Chinese glass manufacturer Shanghai Yaohua Pilkington Glass Company (SYP).

The Shanghai Oriental Art Center is one of the biggest and most talked about projects to be completed in Shanghai, if not the whole of Asia, in the past couple of years. It is a first rate public cultural building, financed by the municipality of Shanghai, China. The complex encompasses three venues: a 1,979-seat philharmonic orchestra hall, a 1,054-seat lyric theatre, and a 330-seat chamber music hall. It also features ancillary public facilities such as an exhibition hall, music shops, a restaurant and an arts library, as well as a multimedia and training centre.

Architect Paul Andreu of Aeroports de Paris (ADPi) says: “When I first conceived the Shanghai Oriental Center, one of my first thoughts was that I wanted it to glow beautifully at night. After all, what is an art center? It’s a place where music and theatre are performed. It should be appealing, especially in the evenings, when the crowds are attending. It should project a sense of mystery. It should certainly not feel closed, stuffy or boring.”

Andreu approached the Shanghai Oriental Art Center fresh from completing the Osaka Maritime Museum in Osaka, Japan (1993-2000) where he says he had “the vision of a round, geodesic dome floating in the water and glowing at night”. Andreu told Laminated Glass News: “As an architect and an engineer I am always trying to find better solutions.So when we approached the Shanghai Oriental Art Center I wanted it to glow even more beautifully at night than the Osaka Maritime Museum does. I wanted the whole construction to be glowing. I wanted the Shanghai Oriental Art Center to say: “The Show’s Beginning!”

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