The Six Dynasties Museum, part of the Nanjing Hanfujie Plaza complex, occupies a key site adjacent to the historic Nanjing Presidential Palace. The design scheme takes full advantage of the site configuration and program complexity and responds to the unique location and context of the Nanjing Presidential Palace across the street. The building is organized in two nested L-shaped volumes with a Chinese garden on the third level in the heart of the complex. The Museum volume projects forward to the south to distinguish the Museum entrance from the rest of the complex as well as to create a plaza along this main road in front of the hotel volume.

The building complex is unified inside and out by the use of two materials that dominate the exterior of the building: a beige limestone which covers the walls and the glass of the fenestrations and skylights. The museum is mainly organized as an L-shaped volume along the east and north side of the site. The main entrance is located on the site’s Southeast corner facing Changjiang Road. The double-height Museum entrance is carved underneath the museum’s stone volume of the Southeast façade. The all-glass canopy resting above the entryway frames the main entrance to the museum. 

Inside the museum an entrance gallery leads visitors to the monumental atrium covered by a grand skylight. It is in this grand space that visitors enter the Museum Galleries on the 2 and 3 Level and Level B-1 to view the preserved Ancient Relic Wall. An exhibition gallery is also located on the ground level adjacent to the museum’s secure loading dock. A VIP Room and the Museum Shop are located at the Ground Level, a Conference Room at the 2 Level and the Café at the 3 Level.