Ennead Architects has released images of their competition-winning design for the new International Performance Center in Shenzhen. The company, which is currently hiring a BIM Specialist and Computational Designer on Archinect Jobs, hopes that their scheme will “reimagine the possibilities of immersive performing arts experiences.”

Referred to as “The People’s Performing Arts Center,” the scheme is one of three new buildings to be built as part of a cultural masterplan for Shenzhen’s Futian District, alongside the Shenzhen Reform and Opening-Up Exhibition Hall and the Shenzhen Finance Culture Center.

Ennead’s scheme adopts the form of two richly-textured, golden egg-like shells to create a façade that changes with the time of day and season. The two elements are both dependent and complimentary of one another, reflecting the relationship between the performer and the audience. When viewed in tandem with its surroundings, the scheme is designed to adopt a low-scaled, open, visual flow, while an external undulating form and fluid internal circulation recall the movement of water in Shenzhen Bay.

“Shenzhen is a place of rapid transformation and incredible energy,” explains Stephen P-D Chu AIA, Principal at Ennead Architects and the project’s designer. “When we conceived the design for this city, we wanted to create something emblematic of its vitality that is celebratory and welcoming – the two ‘jewels’ are both expressive of the creative power of performance, and reflective, engaging with the civic life outside.”

The two shell structures will each encase the main performance space, the Dream Theater and Star Concert Hall, linked by a multilevel atrium with a full-height glass lobby. The Star Concert Hall is an oval-shaped, vineyard-style space with a stage that can accommodate a full-size orchestra, and seating for 800 guests. The Dream Theater, meanwhile, is described as a “state-of-the-art performance venue where the world’s top performers can present their latest work and around 1600 audience members can enjoy an all-encompassing experience in sound, light, and projection.”

The scheme is the latest in a series of prominent commissions in Shenzhen led by international architects. In August, Laguarda.Low Architects unveiled images for a mixed-use park in Shenzhen, while Carlo Ratti Associati unveiled the world’s first “farmscraper” in the city. In May, MVRDV’s sustainably-minded, mixed-use Shenzhen Terraces began construction, SANAA unveiled images of their Shenzhen Maritime Museum, and Grimshaw unveiled their mango tree-inspired design for Shenzhen’s international airport and transport hub.

Last month, we explored the past, present, and future of Shenzhen in a feature article to further understand the continuing array of high-profile commissions emanating from the city. In the piece, architectural historian, writer, and curator Ole Bouman noted that “the critical mass of premier league architecture, deployed to construct major civic monuments, is both sign of a maturing and self-confident city, but also a risk in believing too much in hardware, monuments and global fame as the pillars of continued reputation.”