Located on the Huangpu River in Shanghai’s North Bund, known as the “Oriental Broadway,” the AIA Grand Theatre is a 14,000-square-metre contemporary cultural venue completed in 2023, with interiors designed by HPP architechts.
Conceived as an open cultural platform, it brings together a concert hall, foyer, retail and gastronomy areas, exhibitions, and educational spaces. Its architecture is based on the idea of a “glowing crystal box,” developed inside as a transparent jewellery case in which light, material, and space define the building’s identity and gradually lead visitors from the open foyer towards the auditorium.
The lighting design was developed by J Studio, a Shanghai-based practice founded in 2010 and led by Wei Jie He, and received an award in the Interior Architectural Illumination category at the LIT Lighting Design Awards. Inspired by the idea of a “shimmering, translucent jewelry box,” the theatre is conceived as a place where visitors gradually discover the spaces and functions within, extending the experience beyond the performances themselves.
The building comprises three above-ground levels and two basement levels, with the main entrance on the ground floor. The lobby is developed around the theme “The Growth Imprint of a Shell,” with triple-height striated decorative surfaces that reproduce the organic patterns of a shell’s exterior. Integrated lighting gives these surfaces a soft, pearlescent glow, reinforcing the relationship between material, texture, and light.
The auditorium forms the theatre’s striking centrepiece: entering it is conceived as the final stage in the gradual unveiling of the building, recalling the experience of revealing the treasures inside a jewelry box.
