Text description provided by the architects. The Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum in the Guangming District of the city opens today. Showcasing the scientific endeavour, ground-breaking research, and future possibilities of technology, this new institution will explore the power of science and the technological advancements defining our future. Designed as a leading visitor destination of the Greater Bay Area — the world’s largest metropolitan region with its population approaching 100 million residents — the museum will collaborate with the region’s renowned tech industries, universities, schools and research centres to cultivate innovation, as well as present the ongoing inventiveness that places Shenzhen as a global leader in the development of new technologies.
Adjacent to Guangming Station of Shenzhen’s metro network, the design responds to its location as a solid, spherical volume facing the city and defining the southeast corner of the new Science Park. Extending westwards into the park, the building’s volume stretches and transforms into a dynamic sequence of outdoor terraces overlooking the park. These terraces are functioning extensions of the interior galleries that surround the grand central atrium, creating a significant new civic space for the city.
The Shenzhen Science & Technology Museum incorporates 35,000 sqm of permanent and temporary exhibition halls and galleries, together with 6,000 sqm of immersive theatres and cinemas, as well as 5,400 sqm of research laboratories, educational facilities, and an innovation centre. Additionally, 34,000 sq. m of visitor amenities and storage join production and maintenance workshops. The many galleries within Shenzhen’s new scientific institution emerge from the floor and walls of its central atrium, while other galleries float above the awesome scale and composition of the atrium’s grand public space, each giving visual clues that intuitively direct visitors through the museum’s series of interconnected spaces.
The atrium’s multiple perspectives and materiality also provide a thrilling launching point for every visitor’s journey of discovery. With its large, glazed wall facing the park, the atrium blurs the boundary between inside and out, inviting natural light and landscapes, as well as our boundless curiosity, into the heart of the building. Guided by passive environmental strategies, the design process employed advanced computer simulations to test and refine the building’s form, spaces, and envelope for optimal performance within the annual solar radiation, temperatures, humidity, prevailing winds, air quality, and other variable conditions of Shenzhen’s subtropical climate and location. The building’s orientation has been determined to minimise solar heat gain within its central atrium while maintaining panoramic views of the park. Designed to shield the atrium’s glazed façade from direct sunlight to enhance visitor comfort, the terraces on each floor improve environmental performance and create a series of sheltered outdoor spaces overlooking the park, giving visitors places for rest and contemplation while exploring the exhibitions.
Mitigating direct exposure to the elements and solar radiation, a system of stainless-steel panels creates a ventilated cavity between the façade and the external walls. This system extends to the roof, which also incorporates photovoltaics for on-site energy generation. The museum’s façade incorporates the first large-scale application of dual colour INCO technology in China. Precisely controlling an electrolyte formula and oxidation time, a nano-scale oxide film is generated on the surface of the steel, giving the façade a self-protecting, self-cleaning micro-layer that extends its life cycle by increasing resilience to weather and corrosion, while also enriching the stainless steel with a fine texture and colour without any painting. The façade’s colour gradient transitions from deep blue to various shades of grey, evoking a dynamism of celestial bodies orbiting in space, while adding depth and texture.
Aiming to achieve the highest three-star rating of China’s Green Building Evaluation Standard, the 128,276 sqm museum’s passive design features combined with smart management networks operating high-efficiency systems are projected to reduce the building’s energy consumption to 15.47 kWh/sqm per year, subsequently lowering emissions from electricity demand to an estimated 125.89 kgce/sqm a year. The museum’s procurement targeted the use of 389,238.92 tonnes of recyclable materials in construction, while its water management system implements grey-water recycling in addition to the collection and storage of rainwater to reduce overall water consumption to an estimated 14,906 cubic metres per year. The project’s digital twin construction process employed BIM+3D scanning technology to maintain and control tolerances of complex surfaces within millimeters. A comprehensive network of key nodes throughout the building enabled the synchronous verification of all construction from the digital simulation in real-time, while robotic multi-point forming technology precisely shaped the complex surfaces to the exact requirements of the design.
