Henn Arkitekten's design of Beijing's International Automotive Expo Centre
The automobile museum will be the first building to be erected, together with the adjoining theme park in the south (international Brand Pavilions) of the Beijing International Automotive Expo, by the time the 2008 Olympics take place. The original plan of the project won in a competition in 2004 has since been revised. Optimised requirements with regard to the size, routing, staging and marketing potentials, were formulated and implemented in the design development.
The ground floor is divided into two buildings that are linked by means of an open passage. The southern and larger section is dominated by a generous entrance hall that is joined to the exhibition spaces above by means of an elliptical void that widens as it rises upwards. The conference centre that directly adjoins it offers space for about 650 participants in rooms of various sizes. A 4-D cinema is being planned for the northern section. The first floor is openly accessible and houses ticketing and sales areas and a restaurant that can be run in two different price categories. The museum administration with about 120 staff was integrated into the museum building over two floors and has direct contact to the exhibition spaces. The theme oriented exhibition spaces start on the second floor and flows on the fourth floor into a cambered and freely spanned space.
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