International architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) is pleased to unveil designs for DreamWorks Asia Headquarters, Oriental Dreamworks and creative offices in the new Shanghai DreamCenter, which constitutes one of the most exciting projects in China.
Located along the riverside in Xuhui District, the 463,000-square-meter DreamCenter is an integrated cultural and lifestyle landmark that will feature performing arts spaces, creative media spaces, black box and imax theaters, as well as world-class entertainment, fashionable retail areas and premium restaurants and bars.
“Together with the West Bund Media Port, this will become the world’s third great urban center for entertainment and arts alongside New York’s Broadway and London’s West End,” said DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. With offices on New York’s 42nd Street and in London’s Covent Garden, KPF is quite literally ‘in’ show business and has come to know what makes such creative capitals tick. In the words of KPF Principal Paul Katz, “We also know first-hand the value of locating in such creative cores, for our process, our staff, and our work as architects.”
A collaboration between Hong Kong Lan Kwai Fong Group, DreamWorks Animation and Shanghai China Media Capital, the DreamCenter is the flagship project of Shanghai’s West Bund Media Port, a large-scale development focused on creative and digital media, technology, and cultural industries.
Katz commented, “We’ve watched Shanghai develop into a global city. And now, three visionaries, three of the most influential shapers of global culture in the 21st century are coming together to create its creative hub: Jeffrey Katzenberg, who heads one of the most influential studios in the industry; Allan Zeman, who has made such a huge contribution to Hong Kong, including the development of Lan Kwai Fong in HK and now China, which transformed the culture of public space and demonstrated a new respect for international lifestyle and world-class entertainment; and Li Ruigang, the visionary who has punctuated the evolution of China’s media and entertainment industry. In 20 years, Shanghai has transformed itself from an agrarian-based economy to one of the leading post-industrial economies in Asia. The DreamCenter project will further define Shanghai’s role as a global meeting-place for creative industry, technology, entertainment, and culture.”
Through the revitalization of the hundred-year-old former cement factory and other industrial artifacts into iconic creative live performance venues and F&B facilities, DreamCenter blends together the site’s industrial and cultural history with modern architecture, offering an unseen experience for the people of Shanghai and international tourists.
KPF’s two-block design represents the creative heart of the master plan—and its largest district. The eastern block is home to a pair of creative office towers, a theater building and arts building, whose open-air rooftop features a sculpture garden. The western block features a pair of towers (DreamCenter’s tallest), which angle slightly as they rise above this space, framing the views westward towards the DreamCenter and Huangpu Riverfront and creating “sky canyons” that capture the sky by day and emanate light and activity by night. At the base of the tower, the design includes a direct connection to the Shanghai Metro, a shared retail podium, and an elevated pedestrian walkway lined with shops and restaurants that extends eastward to connect the entire development.
Like KPF’s designs for Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, Hudson Yards in New York, and Covent Garden in London, Shanghai DreamCenter will become the great gathering place for the city, bringing together diverse activities, industries, and cultures, and enabling this energy and streetlife to radiate outwards, activating the city.
Construction of the Shanghai DreamCenter will begin this year and is expected to complete in 2017.
About Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF)
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) is one of the world’s pre-eminent architecture firms, providing architecture, interior, programming and masterplanning services for clients in both the public and private sectors. Operating as one firm with six global offices, KPF is led by 24 Principals and 27 Directors. The firm’s 600+ staff members come from 43 different countries, speak more than 30 languages and include over 80 LEED accredited professionals.
KPF’s diverse portfolio, which features over 70 projects certified or pursuing green building certification, comprises corporate, hospitality, residential, academic, civic, transportation and mixed-use projects located in more than 35 countries. The firm’s recent work includes the Abu Dhabi International Airport, the Shanghai World Financial Center, the International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong, New Songdo City in Korea, the Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas, the RBC Centre and Ritz? Carlton in Toronto, and Heron Tower, Sixty London and Unilever House in London.
Related Stories
Market Data | Jun 30, 2022
Yardi Matrix releases new national rent growth forecast
Rents in most American cities continue to rise slightly each month, but are not duplicating the rapid escalation rates exhibited in 2021.
Headquarters | Jun 30, 2022
Lenovo to build its new global headquarters in Beijing
Washington, D.C.-based architecture and design firm CallisonRTKL has announced it will create the new global headquarters in Beijing for Lenovo Group, a Chinese multinational personal technology company.
Mass Timber | Jun 29, 2022
Mass timber competition: building to net-zero winning proposals
The 2022 Mass Timber Competition: Building to Net-Zero is a design competition to expand the use of mass timber in the United States by demonstrating its versatility across building types and its ability to reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment.
Laboratories | Jun 29, 2022
The "collaboratory" brings digital innovation to the classroom
The Collaboratory—a mix of collaboration and laboratory—is a networking center being designed at the University of Denver’s College of Business.
Airports | Jun 29, 2022
BIG and HOK’s winning design for Zurich airport’s new terminal
Two years ago, Zurich Airport, which opened in the 1950s, launched an international design competition to replace the aging Dock A—the airport’s largest dock.
Museums | Jun 28, 2022
The California Science Center breaks grounds on its Air and Space Center
The California Science Center—a hands-on science center in Los Angeles—recently broke ground on its Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.
Contractors | Jun 27, 2022
Reverse mentorship: A model for the future of the construction workforce
Reverse mentorship can help seasoned professionals develop new skills, stay connected with younger generations, and gain future-forward insights for life and business.
Building Team | Jun 27, 2022
Chapel of St. Ignatius by Steven Holl Architects receives AIA’s twenty-five year award
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is honoring the Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle, designed by Steven Holl Architects, with its Twenty-five Year Award.
Green | Jun 22, 2022
The business case for passive house multifamily
A trio of Passive House experts talk about the true costs and benefits of passive house design and construction for multifamily projects.
Building Team | Jun 22, 2022
Design for new San Clemente Marine Safety Headquarters would create new public plaza
A proposed design by HMC Architects for a new San Clemente Marine Safety Headquarters makes creative use of the seaside topography of the Pacific Coast.
