The New Bund area, in Shanghai’s Qiantan International Business District, is emerging as the city’s fastest growing cultural and business destination. Located within a cluster of shiny new corporate and residential skyscrapers, museums, galleries, cultural centers, and hotels located on the bank of the Huangpu River, The New Bund attracts art and design enthusiasts, financiers and entrepreneurs from across Shanghai, China and the world.

Two major projects by Neri&Hu Design and Research Office contribute to the New Bund’s reputation as a site for cultural excellence. New Bund 31 Performing Arts Center, completed in October 2023, offers music, theater, dance, fashion and design events. Neri&Hu reimagined the classical architecture of a “performing arts” venue to design a 2,500-seat grand theater and a 16,000-square-foot Black Box Arts Space for the Center.

Adjacent to the Arts Center is the 202-room Artyzen New Bund 31 Hotel, a centrally located property also constructed in 2023 adjacent to the Arts Center, ideal for travelers looking to experience an excellent hotel venue in Shanghai’s newest neighborhood. Creating an abundance of exterior spaces, pockets of greenery and carefully selected natural materials, the property provides guests with a sense of tranquility and comfort. Drawing inspiration from classical Chinese gardens, meandering pathways lead beyond the lobby to lounges, restaurants, event spaces and outdoor terraces.

Neri&Hu’s interior design concept for the project is a contemporary interpretation of the classical performing arts structure. The grand theater, its lobby concourse and the circulation paths surrounding it all are defined by a series of arches. A strong impression is made by the five-story atrium space, where the full height of stacked layers of arches can be viewed. Within the 2,500-seat grand theater, with warm oak enveloping the entire performance hall, the repeating arch motif here not only echoes the “arena” concept, but also fulfills the acoustic requirements of a new modern theater.

The Black Box exhibition space is a multipurpose facility that serves MICE functions. Here, the design uses blackened stainless steel as the main material, with the unique “light box” escalator space traversing through the Black Box’s lobby and made entirely of glass blocks, giving visitors the experience of traveling along a crystalline tunnel. Other support spaces throughout the arts center showcase unique designs as well, from the bronze-clad toilets to elevator cabs featuring curved copper, as well as a V.I.P. lounge made of perforated bricks.

Artyzen New Bund 31 Hotel, also designed by Neri&Hu, is adjacent to the performing arts center. Guests are greeted at ground level and then travel to level five for check-in at the reception desk before heading for one of the 202 guestrooms in the hotel’s tower, or to any of the restaurants, lounges, tapas bar, event spaces or outdoor gardens.

Custom furniture pieces by Neri&Hu bring a sense of domesticity and comfort to guestrooms. The hotel offers a fitness center, free private parking, flat-screen TV with satellite channels, Blu-ray player, garden, and a shared lounge and terrace with city views. English, Cantonese and Chinese are spoken at the 24-hour front desk.