LA-based international architecture and design firm Morphosis has announced the completion and opening of the Yangtze River International Conference Center in Nanjing Jiangbei New District, an emerging epicenter for global business in China. 

Commissioned by Jiangbei New District of Nanjing City, the conference center represents a flagship project for the new district. It hopes to embody a charter for sustainable and ecologically-sensitive development while creating a world-class meeting and event venue for the region. 

The building borders the banks of the Yangtze River, the Jiangbei District, and the historic fabric of the Nanjing Metropolitan area. It simultaneously engages with its riverside site while hosting the future urban expansion of the region. The multi-use complex features a 36,000-square-meter (387,500-square-foot) conference space and is attached to a tower with a 340-room, four-star hotel that offers scenic views of the river.

The design of the building takes inspiration from the Yangtze River itself, evident through the structure’s undulating podium. The titanium roof paneling resembles sunlight reflecting off the water’s surface. Additionally, the hotel tower references the sail of a junk, a traditional wind-powered river boat.

The building’s podium is bisected by a central 200-meter arcade, dividing the building into a north and south wing. The convention center’s grand entrance and atrium are illuminated by a skylight. The complex blurs interiority and exteriority through the extension of the hotel tower’s metallic façade into the main building, which becomes the dramatically curved form of the atrium liner.

The condition of the site, between the river and the city, shapes the conference center’s wavelike forms and urban character. On the city side, the hotel tower’s façade utilizes a full-unitized metal brise-soleil system. During the day, it serves to shade the building and increase energy efficiency. At night, lighting integrated in the façade illuminates the structure.

On the river side, the sinuous quality of the façade mirrors the organic nature of the river’s edge, with a metal and glass brise-soleil composed of over 90,000 distinct metal panels. The landscape of the site was designed following a “sponge landscape” principle, that ensures the environmentally responsible management of runoff. Together, the high-performance façades and environmentally conscious landscape design helped the conference center achieve a “3-Star rating,” the highest sustainable design grade recognized by China’s national green building standard.

“The Yangtze International Conference Center is our second project to open in China this year, following Hanking Center in Shenzhen, but each responds to the spirit of its city,” said Morphosis Partner Eui-Sung Yi. “We designed the Yangtze Conference Center with this significance in mind, as the transitioning icon for the westward expansion of Nanjing across the Yangtze River. As Nanjing continues to grow into a hub of international business for China, the convention center will become an important national anchor to host local and international events.”