Snøhetta wins competition to design Hangzhou Qiantang Bay Art Museum

A gateway for imagination where nature and art converge

Snøhetta has won the competition to craft the centerpiece art museum for the Qiantang Bay Future Headquarters development in Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou. Snøhetta’s winning concept celebrates the site’s spectacular setting facing both the waterfront and urban skyline, while resonating with the notion of Time and its relationship with the Arts. The design is a spatial interpretation of Art and Cultural waves and movements, envisioning the institution as a gateway for imagination where nature and art converge.

The 18,000 m2 landmark is part of Hangzhou’s ambitious downtown development along the Qiantang River. Strategically located at the confluence of the Qiantang river and Central water axis with proximate metro access, the art museum offers a striking vantage point, granting visitors sweeping vistas that stretch from one waterway to the other. Snøhetta interprets the fluidity of the waterways as a creative catalyst, shaping a vibrant avenue of creativity and art that will flow from the district’s Central Water Axis cultural cluster to the iconic Qiantang river through an iconic gateway, infusing Hangzhou’s future with renewed vitality.

Inspired by the flowing forms and connective function of a bridge, the building’s design takes the form of two wave-like volumes. This dynamic configuration not only weaves together all circulation routes into a central node, but also establishes a vibrant public realm. The undulating landscape, like the rhythm of tides, guides visitors on an exploratory journey toward the gateway at the heart of the site and upward to a rooftop terrace with panoramic river and city views, activating the community between the two waterways.

The defining feature is the meandering pathways that draw the landscape indoors. To the north, leisurely promenades lead through scenic riverscape to the rooftop skyline. To the east, bridge-like walkways transition seamlessly from the urban setting into the art museum, allowing wanderers to ascend step-by-step toward the sky and waters.

At ground level, the central Gateway acts as a spatial and symbolic connector, drawing people toward the Qiantang riverfront and inviting them to pause, reflect, and celebrate its majestic presence. Inside, the main exhibition halls are nestled at the core, surrounded by generous public spaces for social, education, exchange, and communal gathering.

Snøhetta’s design captures the essence of the site’s distinctive context, utilizing architecture and landscape as a bridge to seamlessly connect nature and city. With the Hangzhou Qiantang Bay Art Museum, Snøhetta aims to ignite a spark for arts and creativity that pays homage to the city’s iconic Qiantang River, inspiring the community and visitors alike to unleash their boundless imaginations.

 

 

 

 

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Hangzhou Qiantang Bay Art Museum

Location: Hangzhou, China

Timeline: 2025 – 

Status: Competition Win 

Client: Hangzhou Xiaoshan Qianjiang Century Development and Construction Co., Ltd.

Typology: Museum & Gallery 

Size: 18,000 m2

Scope: Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Interior Architecture

Collaborators: The Architectural Design & Research Institute of Zhejiang University Co., Ltd., Buro Happold

Renderings: ATCHAIN & Snøhetta

 

 

Serein Liu

Communication Manager Asia, Snøhetta

 

 

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About Snøhetta

For almost 40 years, Snøhetta has designed some of the world’s most notable public and cultural projects. Snøhetta kick-started its career in 1989 with the competition-winning entry for the new library of Alexandria, Egypt. This was later followed by the commission for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, and the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center in New York City, among many others. 

Since its inception, the practice has maintained its original transdisciplinary approach, and often integrates a combination of architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, product design and art across its projects. The collaborative nature between Snøhetta's different disciplines is an essential driving force of the practice.

Today, Snøhetta has a global presence, with studios in seven locations spanning from Oslo to Paris, Innsbruck, New York, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Melbourne.

Snøhetta is currently working on a wide range of international projects, including the Shanghai Grand Opera House, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Dakota, Harbourside redevelopment in Sydney and La Croisette in Cannes, to name a few. 

Recently completed works include Vertikal Nydalen in Oslo, Beijing City Library, the renovation of Musée national de la Marine in Paris, Orionis - the planetarium and observatory of Douai, Airside in Hong Kong, Esbjerg Maritime Center in Denmark, 550 Madison Garden and Revitalization in New York, as well as Volum lamps for Lodes.

Some of Snøhetta's previous projects include Ordrupgaard Art Museum expansion in Denmark, the Cornell University Executive Education Center and Hotel in New York City, Le Monde Group Headquarters in Paris, including the wayfinding and signage, Europe’s first underwater restaurant, Under, the redesign of the public space in Times Square, the expansion to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Lascaux IV: The International Centre for Cave Art, Powerhouse Brattørkaia and design for Norway’s new banknotes.

Snøhetta’s working method simultaneously explores traditional handicraft and cutting-edge digital technology. At the heart of all Snøhetta’s work lies a commitment to social and environmental sustainability, shaping the built environment and design in the service of humanism. Every project is designed with strong, meaningful concepts in mind – concepts that can translate the ethos of its users and their context.

Among many recognitions, Snøhetta has been awarded the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the Aga Kahn Prize for Architecture for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In 2016, Snøhetta was named Wall Street Journal Magazine's Architecture Innovator of the Year, and the practice has been named one of the world’s most innovative companies by Fast Company two years in a row. In 2020, Snøhetta was awarded the National Design Award for Architecture, bestowed by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. In 2021 and 2022, Snøhetta’s Forite tiles won the Sustainable Design of the Year by Dezeen and Best Domestic Design by Wallpaper* in 2022, and the wayfinding system for Le Monde Group Headquarters was acknowledged with Monocle Design Awards. In 2023, Snøhetta won a number of awards for the Esbjerg Maritime Center and was named Architects of the Year at the Monocle Design Awards, in 2024 included a number of awards to Beijing Library and the BIA 2024 Award to Snøhetta and in 2025, Snøhetta was recognized with the OPAL Special Award for Sustainability, among others. 

Disclaimer: All materials provided by Snøhetta are intended exclusively for editorial use to communicate the specified project(s). The use of this material for commercial or third-party purposes is strictly prohibited. No material may be edited or altered from its original state in any manner. Credit must be given for all content used, acknowledging Snøhetta and/or the photographer or creator as the source. By using Snøhetta's press material, you agree to these terms and conditions.

 

Contact

Snøhetta Akershusstranda 21, Skur 39 N-0150 Oslo, Norway

press@snohetta.com

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