China National Marine Museum
© Terrence Zhang, The China National Marine Museum is now officially open in Tianjin after six years of planning, design and construction. The China National Marine Museum was designed by Australian architectural firm COX Architecture, which boasts a distinctive form, extending from the large coastal park to the bay. The three-story museum volume consists of four wings, each with an ocean theme: Ancient Ocean, Today’s Ocean, Discovery Voyage and Dinosaur Era. The museum has six exhibition areas and 15 interconnected exhibition halls.
© Terrence Zhang, The design of the China National Marine Museum was evolved from watercolours by COX’s founding partners, Philip Cox. ‘The design initially evolved from Philip Cox’s watercolour sketches, a certain irresistible metaphor is subtly revealed – leaping carp, coral, starfish, vessels moored in harbour, China’s open gateway to the marine world’, said the design team, ‘The architecture does not adopt a literal imitation, some are more obviously expressed, such as the geometric patterns and textures on the building surface, as well as the functional design carried out to ensure the heavy winter snow load typical of northern China.’
© Terrence Zhang, During the project progression, we conducted physical and digital modeling to test the building’s structure and details. ‘Revit, Rhino and BIM played a huge role in project coordination and delivery’, explained the architects. ‘They produced the largest digital models we encountered in our work. The solutions included large earthquake escape exits, each exit located on a large spherical node, these nodes were designed so that people can promptly flow and escape when a sudden earthquake occurs in the region.’ The building’s energy is primarily sourced from geothermal energy beneath the ground.
© Terrence Zhang, ‘The China National Marine Museum has reason to become a ‘landmark’ building. It is a landmark building generated by an outstanding design process. It is a completely domestic but internationally-oriented project. This demonstrates our enlightened and cooperative clients and our team’s commitment, as well as the talent and perseverance of all of us, which ensured that the building meets its vision in every possible detail,’ Brendan Gaffney, Director of COX China, commented.
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© Terrence Zhang, Overall Plan ©COX Architecture Office, Elevation ©COX Architecture Office, Section ©COX Architecture Office, Watercolour ©Philip Cox
Project Information: Project Name: China National Marine Museum, Project Location: Tianjin, China, Building Area: 80,000m2, Land Area: 150,000 m2, Completion Date: 2019, Floor Number: 3 floors, Architectural Firm: COX Architecture Office, COX Team: Hang Ling, Alex Leese, Jack Dodgson, Ashley Beckett, Jayson Blight, Jaegeun Lim, Alex Munoz, Michael Bailey, Philip Cox, Lei Li, Leon Mcbride, Troy Rafton, James Ryan, Mitchell Page, Julian Farrell, Andrew Butler, Belinda Williamson, David Reasbeck, Ayo Akinola, Mark Sierzcula, Perry Gustafson, Kim Huat Tan, Spyros Barberis, Megan Mckenzie, Gary Mcfeat, William Gray, Michael Rayner, Adrian Taylor, Roger Mai, Joseph Hartley, Karen Appleyard, Matthew Napper, Brendan Gaffney, Katy Roberts, Katie Holzberger, Mark Hadfield, Maxie Navius, Jaclyn Sun, Casey Vallance, Marianella Picon, Robert Callanan, Martin Hayes, Tae Won Kang, Solomon Romion, Brendan Kenny, Vesna Lazarevic, Steve Hunter, Thomas Nelson, James Sia, Tracey Maree, Akiko Spencer, Joachim Clauss, Tim Morgan, Brett Miles, Tommy Miller, Anya Meng, Client: Chinese Government and Tianjin Municipal National Marine Museum Preparation Committee, Local Design Institute: Tianjin Building Design Research Institute, Main Consultants: Arup, Lord Cultural Resources, Urbantect
“RevitRhinoBIM”“”
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“‘’”COX Brendan Gaffney“”
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©COX
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©Philip Cox
80,000m2
150,000 m2
2019
3
COX
COX Hang Ling, Alex Leese, Jack Dodgson, Ashley Beckett, Jayson Blight, Jaegeun Lim, Alex Munoz, Michael Bailey, Philip Cox, Lei Li, Leon Mcbride, Troy Rafton, James Ryan, Mitchell Page, Julian Farrell, Andrew Butler, Belinda Williamson, David Reasbeck, Ayo Akinola, Mark Sierzcula, Perry Gustafson, Kim Huat Tan, Spyros Barberis, Megan Mckenzie, Gary Mcfeat, William Gray, Michael Rayner, Adrian Taylor, Roger Mai, Joseph Hartley, Karen Appleyard, Matthew Napper, Brendan Gaffney, Katy Roberts, Katie Holzberger, Mark Hadfield, Maxie Navius, Jaclyn Sun, Casey Vallance, Marianella Picon, Robert Callanan, Martin Hayes, Tae Won Kang, Solomon Romion, Brendan Kenny, Vesna Lazarevic, Steve Hunter, Thomas Nelson, James Sia, Tracey Maree, Akiko Spencer, Joachim Clauss, Tim Morgan, Brett Miles, Tommy Miller, Anya Meng
Arup, Lord Cultural Resources, Urbantect
Terrence Zhang
