Beijing’s Capital International Exhibition & Convention Center is A New Landmark in Commerce and Culture
Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects.
Situated in Beijing, China’s leading center of commerce and culture, the city has recently inaugurated the Capital International Exhibition & Convention Center (CIECC). Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), the center serves as the latest advancement in the city’s continued expansion, meeting its demands to host conventions, international conferences and industry expos.
Located on Line 15 of the Beijing Subway and near the city’s Capital International Airport, CIECC’s central north-south axis connects the nine exhibition halls, providing navigational clarity, maximum flexibility and efficiency. Conceived as “ribbons” that weave together all the new facilities, bridges above this central courtyard also connect the exhibition halls, conference center and hotel to provide indoor circulation between event spaces.
The center’s fluid architectural language and pleated, deep copper-colored façade incorporating large, recessed windows, have been designed to balance the CIECC’s immense industrial scale and materiality. It features a composite roof system comprised of symmetric geometries that creates an insulated, lightweight, large-span structure — providing column-free spaces that can be quickly adapted to changes in exhibitions and nature of use.
CIECC implements smart building management systems with hybrid ventilation, ensuring optimum natural ventilation supported by high-efficiency HVAC equipment to enhance indoor air quality while minimizing energy consumption. In addition to that, rainwater collection is available throughout the center’s extensive footprint, along with gray water recycling and photovoltaics that offer on-site energy generation were all features that helped the center achieve the highest certification of China’s Green Building Program.
The newly unveiled center is Beijing’s largest and most advanced exhibition and convention venue — expanding the city’s existing facility to over 611,000 square meters with nine new exhibition halls, three new reception halls, a conference center that could house 9,000 delegates as well as a hotel with 410 rooms.
