Home is where the Dome is

Put down roots

The Heilongtan Dome (Music Hall) rises gently from the gently sloping land­scape at the entrance to an agro-cultural commu­nity in Chengdu, China.

The open-air hall by Studio Dali Archi­tects doesn’t scream for atten­tion, but it sings: quietly, openly and with the calm certainty that it belongs in this very place. Enve­loped by trees, light and land­scape, this hall with its curved roofs is remi­nis­cent of the village meeting room – where stories, music and memo­ries take root natu­rally under a banyan tree.

Its loca­tion on a gentle slope, by the lake and surrounded by young trees combines the dome­stic with the rural, the crea­tive with the natural.

Spiri­tual Center

Heilongtan is the name of a new deve­lo­p­ment area in Renshou County in Meishan, and the Heilongtan Dome is the new entrance and land­mark here.

The design is based on the tradi­tional symbo­lism of banyan trees. In this area, they are usually found at the entrance to the village and serve as places of encounter and tran­quil­lity. The semi-open hall is remi­nis­cent of the space under the root network of such trees and serves (accor­ding to the archi­tects) as a “spiri­tual center” for the commu­nity.

It is mainly used for concerts, theater rehear­sals and perfor­mances, courses, rest and informal meetings.

Olive trees

The open-air hall is cons­tructed as a wooden dome, its roof resembling a protec­tive network of leaves. Large skylights allow three Chinese olive trees to grow through the roof, while more than a dozen other openings bring daylight into the inte­rior. The visible wooden cons­truc­tion creates an impres­sive atmo­sphere and good acou­stics.

A few seating steps rise slightly towards the lake, ideal for spec­ta­tors and open for informal uses such as theater. The arran­ge­ment of the chrome-plated steel supports is remi­nis­cent of air-rooted banyan trees and streng­thens the connec­tion between archi­tec­ture and nature.

Archi­tec­ture

The supporting struc­ture consists of a light­weight wood-steel hybrid cons­truc­tion. 24 slender, chrome-plated steel supports with a diameter of 60–100 mm allow the dome to float, while roof sections reach down to the ground and support water drai­nage.

The close inte­gra­tion of the hall with nature is of central importance: the buil­ding nestles against the slope, opens up to the forest and allows a play of light and shadow between the pillars and through the trees. Daylight floods the inte­rior spaces, while the struc­ture itself creates a harmo­nious connec­tion between buil­ding, nature and commu­nity using mini­mally harmful tech­no­logy.

Just good archi­tec­ture.