Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre

The Shanghai Poly Grand Theatre (上海保利大剧院) stands in Jiading New City, on the shore of Yuanxiang Lake (远香湖), close to the Shanghai International Circuit. The project dates from 2009; the client is Shanghai Poly Jia Real Estate Development, and the theatre is part of the Poly chain of theatres. It officially began operating in October 2014.

Next to the theatre, Tadao Ando also designed a tower of homes and offices.

The theatre is a rectangular block of cast-in-place concrete wrapped in a glass and aluminium curtain wall. Its total floor area is about 56,000 m². It is built between two man-made waterways.

Ando cut five large cylindrical openings, tunnels, through the block, making public spaces that are open to the air yet sheltered from the rain. Their lining is aluminium painted to look like wood, in contrast with the concrete. Two elliptical openings merge into a single covered opening that holds a foyer on two levels; a further tunnel runs over stepped amphitheatre seats looking onto the waterway; a third, which seems to slice through the top of the building, provides seating on the roof; a fourth shelters the curving concrete stairs up to the entrance.

The main auditorium has three tiers and 1,466 seats, with a picture-frame stage. Inside, bare concrete is paired with golden wood.

The large theatre hosts concerts, dance, drama and other performances. A small theatre, whose stage area can be enlarged or lowered as each show requires, is used for chamber music and experimental theatre, but also for lectures, conferences, product launches and banquets.

The theatre is at 159 Baiyin Road, in Jiading District, and is easy to reach by public transport.