Renderings of the futuristic Hangzhou International Sports Center designed by Zaha Hadid Architects

Zaha Hadid Architects announced on Oct 22 winning the bid for designing the Hangzhou International Sports Center.

The project is a part of the tech-cultural center of the Hangzhou Sci-tech City. The center will be divided into three buildings: a stadium, an aquatics center, and an indoor arena, alongside a few parks and public spaces.

Zaha Hadid Architects is a British architecture and design firm founded by Zaha Hadid (1950–2016), who is an Iraqi-British architect, artist, and designer, and is recognized as a major figure in the architecture field in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. She was once described by the Guardian as the "Queen of the curve".

This is the firm's latest attempt into sports architecture in China, following their work on the London Aquatics Centre and the Al Janoub Stadium in Qatar.

"Accommodating Hangzhou's growing population, the design of the International Sports Center provides a variety of facilities for people from grassroots players to professional athletes," said Zaha Hadid Architects.

Inspired by the terrace tea fields

Inspired by tea terrace fields around Hangzhou, the complex is designed into many hierarchies in a similar way to the tea terrace fields. It includes a football field and a practice field with a capacity of 60,000 spectators, a stadium with 19,000 seats and a water sports center with a 50-meter standard swimming pool on both sides.

The largest stadium of the center, the football stadium, with an area of 135,000 square meters, is a professional football stadium that meets FIFA standards. The seats are designed to bring spectators as close as possible to the playing field, ensuring that the audience on each seat has a high-quality, unobstructed view of the game, to create a fantastic atmosphere for the players and spectators.

Unlike the usual facade walls, the facade of the stadium is open to the exterior with louvers sheltering and terraces where people can enjoy a variety of food and beverages and a panoramic view of the city.

With an area of 74,000 square meters and a capacity of 19,000 spectators, the indoor venue is expected to serve as an independent public facility, hosting cultural events, large-scale concerts, basketball, and other games.

Covering an area of 15,000 square meters, the water sports center has a standard swimming pool with a 50-meter track on both sides, and a swimming pool that can accommodate 800 spectators and can host regional-level competitive events.

The football field, indoor stadium and water sports center are connected by a tiered platform.

A podium covering an area of 45,000 square meters will house training rooms, gymnasiums, changing rooms, offices, shops, restaurants and other facilities.

The complex will be connected with Hangzhou Metro Lines 3 and 5 of Hangzhou's fast growing metro network, making it more accessible from every corner of the city.

Global attention placed on Hangzhou

The news has attracted global attention.

Design Boom on its official website described Hangzhou as "One of the world's leading centers of e-commerce, Hangzhou is home to many of China's large technology companies which has attracted IT professionals and entrepreneurs from across the country to live and work in the city".

Environment-friendly concepts are also integrated into the design. The complex has been designed to the highest 3-Star rating of China's Green Building Program with each venue providing optimal conditions using natural hybrid ventilation most of the year.

"The project will make use of the recycled and recyclable materials. Each venue will utilize a hybrid ventilation system, as well as ground source heat pumps and photovoltaics to make full use of the solar power," according to a text from architecture and design media Dezeen.

More landmarks in Yuhang to be unveiled

Besides the sports complex, more landmark buildings are under construction in Yuhang district.

Since the Hangzhouxi Railway Station has been put into use in Sept, the Cloud Gate, a significant complex in front of the traffic hub, has taken shape. The facade of the "Cloud Gate" will be completed soon and its indoor decoration is underway. According to the plan, the "Cloud Gate" will be used as an urban complex with multiple scenarios.

The "Golden Finger Complex" in the Cloud City of Yuhang district is currently under construction. The tallest tower of the complex, named "Golden Finger", with a height of 399.8 meters, is expected to become the highest building in Hangzhou. The buildings are planned to be completed in 2029.