Sports architecture inherently challenges us to reconsider its integration within the urban fabric. Our goal is to create a sports community centered around venues that embrace multiple possibilities within the city context, seamlessly blending into urban life with a forward-thinking approach. The design embodies sharing and openness throughout the building’s entire lifecycle, establishing a cultural and social link that endows sports facilities with distinctive public service value. — Qian Xidong
The 19th Asian Games are set to take place in Hangzhou, China, in 2023. The Hangzhou Asian Games Baseball and Softball Sports and Culture Center stands as the largest newly constructed venue for this event, and currently ranks as China’s most advanced, high-standard baseball and softball sports center. This center will invigorate nearby future communities and position sports as the cultural backdrop of the area.
We believe sports architecture should extend beyond mere competition functions. It must emphasize adaptable public services to align with society’s trend toward openness and sharing. By designing a sports and cultural complex as a sports community, the facility becomes a vibrant core of its environment and region—distinguishing it from traditional, enclosed venues.
The design intentionally breaks away from the stereotype of sports architecture as closed-off. It fully embraces diverse urban possibilities. The complex, including a baseball field, training center, and physical training hall, is closely integrated with a unique commercial street sheltered by the iconic “cloud wings,” inviting citizens to immerse themselves in a shared and inclusive future sports community atmosphere.
Located at the junction of Keqiao District and Jinghu New District in Shaoxing, this sports park project is a vital node and support facility within the planned baseball future community. To foster a vibrant sports community, the design integrates diverse urban cultures with multifunctional spaces, emphasizing cultural identity, scientific planning, and comprehensive utilization.
With a total construction area of about 136,000 square meters, the project is divided into two plots: A and E. Plot A includes the main and auxiliary baseball fields, physical training centers, and supporting hotels. Plot E is dedicated to softball main and auxiliary fields.
This sports and cultural park is open to the public, without enclosing walls. Whether exploring the sports and cultural commercial street or accessing the two-level platform connecting various venues, visitors can freely enter and experience the space first-hand.
The project carefully addresses operational and management feasibility both during and post-Asian Games. It cleverly opens up the internal public spaces and organically links them with the surrounding future community, embodying the spirit of the Hangzhou Asian Games’ theme: “Heart to Heart, @ Future.”
The design’s cultural expression embraces “inheriting history and reflecting regional characteristics.” Inspired by Shaoxing’s water town atmosphere and textile heritage, the venues interconnect through ribbon-shaped, two-level public platforms that integrate seamlessly with city streets, becoming part of the urban fabric.
The building façades draw from traditional cultural motifs such as ribbons, scrolls, and tiled roofs, crafted into a continuous Jiangnan aesthetic using curved perforated aluminum panels. These panels feature diverse patterns and densities, evoking traditional textile craftsmanship and stirring collective cultural memories.
Planning for post-competition use, the design thoughtfully addresses operational and maintenance needs both during and after the Asian Games. It effectively connects internal public spaces with the surrounding community, emphasizing harmony between architecture and the natural environment.
The project boasts versatile spatial functions tailored to local conditions, supporting the sports and cultural communities. Beyond baseball and softball fields, the center includes hotels, a national fitness center, and numerous commercial service spaces, accommodating diverse community needs and positioning itself as a key service hub for the future neighborhood.
Sports services act as a catalyst, driving the area’s development and enhancing community vitality.
The expansive canopy above the floating “Cloud Wing” venue is a central and challenging element of the design. A bidirectional truss system supports a maximum cantilever of 16 meters, upheld by slender steel columns.
The canopy’s top surface is clad in a titanium-dioxide-coated PTFE membrane, spanning 21,000 square meters. Each segment gently bulges in the center, resembling ripples on water stirred by a soft breeze—symbolizing Shaoxing’s water town heritage.
Underneath, curved white perforated aluminum panels diffuse sunlight, creating layered patterns of light and shadow. This semi-transparent effect reduces the visual mass of the canopy, blurring its boundary with the sky and imparting a sense of lightness and airiness.
The slender white columns appear to pierce through clouds, enhancing the ethereal atmosphere. At night, the LED-lit canopy glows brightly and transparently, offering a unique visual experience for spectators.
Its curvature was optimized through simulations of rainwater flow and sunlight exposure, resulting in a high center and low edges that ensure effective drainage and shading.
The thickest steel columns serve as the main structural supports, while others conceal drainage and electrical conduits or act as decorative elements. Varying pipe diameters correspond to distinct functions, creating a clean, balanced spatial rhythm reminiscent of a bamboo forest.
From afar, the canopy appears to float above the venue like white cloud wings, shading the entire complex below.
Conclusion: The Hangzhou Asian Games Baseball and Softball Sports Culture Center presents a new vision of sports architecture accessible to both athletes and the public. It combines multifunctional services, a dynamic relationship with the city, and a spatial gathering hub.
Approaching the project as a sports community, it weaves together urban, community, and cultural elements across multiple scales. The “Wings of Clouds” canopy is poised to settle over the water town, symbolically bridging the natural environment and urban life, dissolving barriers, and fostering a thriving sports community.
Project Drawings
△ Intent Analysis Diagram
△ Functional Zoning Diagram
△ Site Plan
△ Analysis Diagram
Project Information
Architect: Zhejiang University Architectural Design and Research Institute
Area: 160,139 m²
Project Year: 2022
Photographer: Zhao Qiang
Design Directors: Dong Danshen, Qian Xidong
Lead Designer: Qian Xidong
Project Leaders: Zhou Jiawei, Huang Kejie, Yu Haitao
Architectural Design Team: Huang Kejie, Ye Shanfeng, Zhu Chengyuan, Zheng Yilin, Zhang Mengyun, Mao Chenglin, Sun Zhenghe, Wu Jingjing, Zhu Erya
Structural Design Team: Xiao Zhibin, Fan Qiguang, Shen Handong, Li Jianli, Guo Jiapeng, Chen Peiwei
Water Supply and Drainage Design: Yi Jiasong, Liu Peiju, Zhang Zhenyu, Zhang Zehang
HVAC Design Team: Yang Yi, Yi Kai, Lu Guangyu, Huang Yunzhou, Yan Yanqiu, Liu Lu
Electrical Design Team: Li Ping, Feng Baile, Zhang Qiang, Zhang Lingyan, Wang Bin, Deng Zhouning, Hou Bokai
Geotechnical Design Team: Xu Quanbiao, Zeng Kai, Chen Shengxian, Xu Haonan
Intelligent Design: Ni Gaojun, Ma Jian
Interior Design Team: Li Dan, Xu Weier, Wang Lijun, Zhang Heng, Zhang Zhenwei, Lv Wenjia
Curtain Wall Design Team: Bai Qi’an, Xiang Chun, Jiang Qianyang, Zhang Nan, Zhang Pengfei, Cao Dongqiu
Sports Technology: Beijing Huati Chuangyan Engineering Design Consulting Co., Ltd
Landscape Design: Shangchen Engineering Design Group Co., Ltd
Floodlight Design: Hangzhou Blue Sky Garden Construction Co., Ltd
Logo Design: Hangzhou Durian Brand Planning Co., Ltd
Construction Contractor: Zhejiang Jinggong Steel Structure Group Co., Ltd
Principal: Shaoxing Baseball Stadium Construction and Operation Co., Ltd
Location: Shaoxing, China
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