Changying Lifestyle Centre
Beijing, China
Program : Aquatic Centre (Leisure Pool, Changerooms), Single-Pad Arena with Changerooms, Gymnasium, Fitness Centre, Bouldering Wall, E-Games Stadium, Cafeteria, Classrooms, Administrative and Support Spaces, Outdoor Program (Tennis Courts, Futsal Filed, Baseball Diamond, Ski Field, Karting Track, Skate Park, Mountain Bike Area, Playground, Theatre, Splash Pad/Ice Rink)
Associated Architects : Zone Architects
An ambitious planned sports and entertainment hub, the Changying Lifestyle Complex will become the pre-eminent cultural and lifestyle hub in the Chaoyang district of Beijing, China, a new destination for leisure, recreation, entertainment, and habitability. Situated near a subway line, the Complex is just 20 minutes from Beijing’s central business district, and very close to the subsidiary administrative centre of Tongzhou—a location that connects it to both established and growing economic regions and positions it to become a major contributor to the region’s competitiveness as a sports and cultural leader.
The Complex’s ambitious program includes all the amenities of an entire recreation district, including a sport hub with an NHL-size rink, a fitness centre and climbing wall, a large gymnasium, a leisure pool, and an e-games stadium; outdoor facilities include tennis courts, a futsal field, a go-kart track, a skate park and BMX area, a children’s playground, a sunken public square that doubles as an amphitheatre, a baseball diamond, a ski field, and a summer water park / winter ice rink. Rounding out the recreation program are entertainment spaces, educational spaces, living and socialization spaces, and retail and residential tenants.
These spaces span a range of proportions from the human scale to the superstructure itself. A sloped site means the ground plane is partially buried, allowing the Complex to open out onto a large park and its recreation trails via an at-grade entry point to the second level, where the retail and entertainment programs are contained. Above this layer floats the top level, where a series of green roof–topped homes modelled on the traditional Beijing hutong typology connects these compact and discrete residences to gardens and shared courtyards; floating above the public program on a series of diagonal columns, this top layer is punctuated with voids, transparencies, and terraces, connecting the public and residential layers, bringing light into the core of the superstructure, and amplifying the indoor–outdoor connections throughout the building.