PERKINS + WILL’S SHANGHAI NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OFFICIALLY OPENS IN CHINA

A bioclimatic museum whose principal features are inspired by nature

The recently opened Shanghai Natural History Museum features a sunken water garden and perforated central wall influenced by the structure of cells. Visitors enter the building on the upper level and descend the spiral, surrounded in dappled light from the central wall. Over 10,000 artifacts from seven continents are spread across the 44,517-square-meter museum which also houses a 4D theater.

Designed by global architecture and design firm Perkins + Will, the museum is conceived as a continuation of the urban sculpture park in which it is located. As such, the building maintains scale by being partially submerged. It appears to grow from the park’s grassy terrain with the sod gently swirling up to become the museum’s roof. The green roof serves several ecological functions: absorption of rainwater, limitation of runoff and insulation for the interior. This gentle slope of grass also defines the museum’s swirl shape which makes reference to the golden spiral of a nautilus.

At the center of the swirl is a void filled by the sunken water garden with an oval pond provides evaporative cooling. Rainwater collected on the roof as well as recycled grey water are stored in the pond. Surrounding the water garden is the “cell wall” whose open patterns imitate cell structure and the patterns found in traditional Chinese gardens. Thanks to both of these features, light easily penetrates the lower levels of the museum.

Nature’s influence permeates the rest of the building as well. The east wall is covered in vegetation, while the northern wall imitates the movement of tectonic plates and river erosion.

In addition to rainwater collection and evaporative cooling, the building is also bioclimatic. An intelligent skin maximizes daylight but minimizes passive solar gain, while the interior temperature is regulated thanks to a geothermal system.