The Hangzhou Asian Games Baseball and Softball Sports Cultural Center

The 19th Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, China. As the newly built venue with the largest construction area for the Hangzhou Asian Games, the Baseball and Softball Sports Cultural Center will become the largest baseball and softball sports center in China with the highest standards and the most advanced facilities. It can undertake international first-class baseball and softball events. The project has a total construction area of 136,000 m2 and is divided into two sites, A and E. Site A includes a main baseball stadium with a maximum of 10,000 seats, a second baseball field with a maximum of 2,500 seats, a training gymnasium and a hotel. Site E includes a 2,000-seat main softball field and a 500-seat second softball field. We believe that the value of stadium should not be limited to the establishment of a static public space for specific users, but should emphasize flexible public spaces to adapt to the social development of the digital age. Therefore, this project breaks the rigid stereotypes of sports buildings, and is an active and effective urban design practice. The center consisting of baseball fields, training gymnasium, and hotel is integrated with a characteristic pedestrian covered with the membrane structure ceiling, leading people to immerse themselves in the future sports community atmosphere. Different from other similar venues, the center has no walls. As a sports and cultural park, it is open to the public. The cloud-like PTFE membrane structure ceiling has both tension and floating feeling, just like the wings of cloud in the sky. Under the ceiling, the sports culture commercial pedestrian in the form of semi-open blocks creates an open platform connecting the daily life of the public with sports events, and has become the core driving force to stimulate the lasting vitality of the venue. A single-function stadium has very high construction budget. If the functional conversion cannot be completed after completion, the stadium will be idle, which is detrimental for later operation and management. Therefore, the design have comprehensively considered the feasibility of the operation and management of the Asian Games during and after the game. Due to the variability of space design, the functional conversion of the venue after the game will be quickly realized, thereby minimizing the cost recovery time and realizing the profitability of the venue as soon as possible. At the same time, we use as many renewable materials as possible, and designed a complete rainwater recycling system to achieve sustainable use of the venue.