BOCOM New Bund 31 Performing Arts Center

The performing-arts half of the New Bund 31 complex, opened 27 October 2023 and named for the Bank of Communications. Neri&Hu designed the building; Theatre Projects of the UK were the theatre consultants. There are two spaces: a 2,500-seat Grand Theatre and a 1,500-square-metre black box. The Grand Theatre is among the largest indoor professional theatres in Shanghai, programmed under a "Music Plus" banner that leans on musicals, pop, crossover and film music. Its reverberation does not come from the shape of the room: the hall carries a Meyer Sound Constellation active acoustic system, 320 loudspeakers and 97 microphones generating a different acoustic for each kind of programme, the first installation of its size anywhere. A separate LYON, LEOPARD and LINA line array handles amplified sound. The point of that design is one room that can move between conferences, jazz, musicals and symphonic work. The cost is that it is not a hall built to sound a particular way on its own. For unamplified recital and chamber repertoire, that is worth factoring into where you sit and what you pay. An underground passage connects the complex directly to Oriental Sports Center station on metro lines 6, 8 and 11.