Construction is already in progress for the new Guardian Art Center, China's oldest auction house, in Beijing. Designed by Büro Ole Scheeren in collaboration with Beijing Institute of Architectural Design and local planning authorities over four years, the Guardian Art Center is an embodiment of its significant historic surroundings that "explicitly pays respect to its context and location" while still functioning as an auction house, Ole Scheeren describes in a statement.  In other words, the GAC is yet another structure that reflects the balance between tradition and contemporary, a concept that is growing more prominent as China continues to undergo major urban development.

The GAC is located at an intersection where commerce and culture meet: Wangfujing, Beijing's famous commercial street and Wusi Dajie, where the New Cultural Movement originated following the Qing Dynasty. As a souped-up version of its typology, the hybrid auction house consists of 8 levels above ground and 5 below, with features like: ample exhibition, event, and educational facilities, a 120-room hotel, restaurants, a cafe/bookstore, art storage and restoration spaces, and parking. Various cultural references are also expressed throughout the building's exterior. The GAC is expected to be open in 2016.

Keep reading for more project info we received from Buro OS:

"Merging the display and presentation of art in its museum spaces with the multifunctional capacities of its exhibition and auction rooms allows virtually any type of usage and event to take place. The seamless integration of several restaurants and a 120-room hotel in the floating ring of the building with views to the Forbidden City creates an encompassing lifestyle concept centered on the experience of art and culture.

Through the addition of educational facilities in its central ‘club tower’ and art conservation departments in its basements, the Guardian Art Center further manifests its position as the world’s first custom-designed auction house headquarters and a new hybrid art space."

From top to bottom: Exhibition hall, Auction hall, Hotel room.

"At the center of the building, a 1,700 square meter column-free exhibition and event space allows for maximum flexibility and versatility, while the surrounding matrix of smaller, interconnected rooms of the architectural pixels serve support functions. Two large auction halls in the basement provide a more specific and formal setting, with expansive exhibition areas on the second floor completing the typological variety of spaces of the Art Center."

"The building’s facades take on a specific role in its cultural expression and Chinese integration: The upper ring of the hotel is made of floating, over-sized glass bricks, resonating with the textures of the adjacent hutongs and courtyard houses. In contrast to the imperial motives of the nearby Forbidden City, the brick represents civil society and values – a humble and non- elitist symbol in Chinese culture. The grey stone-like pixels of the lower portion of the building are perforated by several thousand circular openings – generated by projecting one of China’s most important historic landscape paintings, Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains, onto its facades and thereby creating a subtle light filter through an abstracted landscape silhouette."

Project details:

Project: Guardian Art Center
Type: Auction House Headquarters and Cultural Complex
Status:
Commission: January 2011
Construction Start: 2013
Anticipated Completion: 2016
Client: China Guardian Auction  (Beijing Huangdu Property Development Company Ltd.) Location: No.1 Wangfujng Street, Beijing, China
Site: Site Area: approx. 6,320 m2
Scale:
Construction Area: approx. 55,988 m2 (above ground: 29,255 m2, below ground: 26,733 m2)
Height: 33.6m; 8 Levels above Ground, 5 Levels below Ground
Program: Exhibition/Auction 7,580m2; Offices 3400m2; Restaurants 2050m2; Café/Bookstore 150m2; Hotel (120 Rooms) 12,680m2; Club Tower 2,000m2; Art Storage and Restoration Spaces 2,700m2; Parking 6,750m2