Wuxi Symphony Hall Complex, located 90 miles west of Shanghai, blends culture, public space, civic engagement and commerce into a dynamic destination for the local community, a world-class venue for classical music, and a catalyst for the economic and social well-being of the city of Wuxi.
“Moonrise,” the metaphor for the project’s design, draws on the symbolism of the moon as a representation of beauty and yearning. This leitmotif recurs throughout the site, most prominently in the central element, the vineyard-style 1,500-seat Symphony Hall, and at its center, the stage, the project's focal point from which the creative energy of music emanates outward to the rest of the site, and by extension, to the city of Wuxi. The Symphony Hall’s direct approach is via the Moon Gate, the most formal entry point on the site and the spatial anchor of the north-south axis. This space is framed by a contemporary colonnade, with a gently flowing water curtain that provides an audible shift from the noise of the street to begin the procession toward the Hall, which appears as a moonrise.
Surrounding the central space of the symphony hall is an elliptical glass enclosure. A sculptural presence on the site, the outer shell is the tallest element of our design, using the entire 30m height allowance above grade, several meters above the roof-line of the surrounding rooftops. The Art Exchange, a 4-story structure forming a strong, dynamic presence on the street side, houses a performance venue, jazz and comedy clubs, retail, dining, art galleries and artist live/work spaces

Sustainability is woven into the project; the Symphony Hall roof is an array of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), architectural veils at each building (UHPC at the Symphony Hall and aluminum louvers at the Art Exchange) reduce interior heat gain, and the landscape captures and controls water flow toward the river. The Symphony Hall’s glass enclosure recirculates airflow.