There are no column supports in the steel frame structure of the National Theater, how did that happen?

The National Grand Theater does reflect the international first-class standard in terms of architecture, creating a precedent in domestic architecture and making many bold attempts, such as the use of titanium metal plate, a metal material mainly used in the manufacture of airplanes and other aircraft, as the roofing material of the building, the bold oval appearance and the surrounding water form a pearl on the water in the architectural shape, which is novel, avant-garde and uniquely conceived, and as a whole reflects the characteristics of a landmark building of the 21st century in the world. It is a perfect combination of tradition and modernity, romance and reality.

The National Grand Theater

The shell structure of the National Grand Theater consists of a single curved steel beam, a huge steel dome that can almost completely cover the Beijing Workers’ Stadium.

Surprisingly, such a huge steel structure is not supported by a single column in the center. That is to say, weighing 6750 tons of steel structure to rely entirely on its own mechanical structural system to ensure safety and stability.

The kind of flexible design makes the National Grand Theater like a Tai Chi master, using the means of softness to overcome the rigidity, and the means of four or two pounds to dissolve the various forces from the outside world. In the steel structure design of the Grand Theater, the steel consumption of the entire steel structure is only 197 kilograms per square meter, which is lower than many similar steel structure buildings. This shell steel structure is extremely difficult to construct, and the largest tonnage crane in China was used in lifting the steel beams.

The National Grand Theater is 46 meters high, but its underground depth is as high as a 10-story building, with 60% of the floor area underground, reaching a maximum depth of 32.5 meters, making it the deepest underground project for a public building in Beijing.

The roof of the Bolshoi Theater is 36,000 square meters and is mainly made of titanium and glass panels assembled together. Titanium is a strong, corrosion-resistant and colorful metal that is mainly used in the manufacture of aircraft and other aircraft. The roof will be made of more than 10,000 titanium panels about 2 square meters in size. As the installation angle is always changing, each titanium plate is a hyperbolic surface with different area, size and curvature. With a thickness of only 0.44 millimeters, the titanium panels are as light and thin as a sheet of paper, so the amount of work and the difficulty of the job is enormous, as there must be a backing made of composite material underneath, each of which will also be cut to the same size as the titanium panels above it.

This “theater in the city, theater in the city” appears as a strange “pearl in the lake” beyond imagination. It expresses an inner vitality, an inner life under the cover of external tranquility. The Grand Theater represents the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.