National Centre for the Performing Arts

The National Centre for the Performing Arts, or NCPA, is a huge arts centre in Xicheng district of Beijing, China, next to the Great Hall of the People. Its big half-egg shape has earned it nicknames such as the Giant Egg and the Boiled Egg.

It was designed by the French architect Paul Andreu and opened in 2007. It is the largest theatre complex in Asia, with an opera hall, a music hall and a theatre inside. The dome is a steel structure about 212 metres long and 144 metres wide, and 46 metres high. It sits in the middle of an artificial lake, so the shiny titanium and glass shell seems to float on the water.

How is the shell built?

The roof shell is made of more than 18,000 titanium plates, covering over 30,000 square metres, and only four of the plates have the same shape. The titanium plates were specially treated to give them their colour. The foundations reach 32.5 metres down, as deep as a ten-storey building is tall. The centre also has art exhibition halls, restaurants and shops.

Why is it famous?

The dome is 3.32 metres lower than the nearby Great Hall of the People. The whole complex covers about 165,000 square metres, including 60,000 square metres underground. It cost 3.067 billion yuan to build. The opera hall, music hall and theatre together have 5,473 seats, so many kinds of shows can happen at once. The main buildings cover 105,000 square metres, with a further 60,000 square metres of underground facilities.

On the globe

The model shows a titanium-and-glass ellipsoid dome that floats on a reflecting lake. Look at the water around the dome.