Now in its final stages of interior finishing and landscaping, the Greater Bay Area Sports Centre’s completion is planned for June in preparation for the China National Games in November 2025.
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area is the world’s largest conurbation with its population anticipated to reach 100 million by 2030. Situated at the southern end of Guangzhou’s Nansha District on the western bank of the historic Pearl River, the Greater Bay Area Sports Centre will serve as an anchor to the new civic, business and residential district at the heart of the Greater Bay Area.
Offering its local community sports facilities of the highest standards, the centre has also been designed to host a diverse programme of major national and international sporting events, as well as cultural performances, that can be easily accessed by all residents of the Greater Bay Area via Line 18 of the Guangzhou Metro and the new Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge.
In addition to providing exceptional facilities for use by Nansha’s local schools and sports clubs, the centre will continue China’s ongoing sports development programmes at regional and national levels. Providing the essential infrastructure for competitive athletes including those participating in all track and field events, the centre’s design optimises Nansha’s warm winters to create the ideal outdoor training facilities and conditions that can foster future legacies.
Situated within a 70-hectare park giving Nansha’s residents a variety of landscaped spaces on the banks of the river for sports and recreation, the Greater Bay Area Sports Centre incorporates a 60,000-seat stadium, a 20,000-seat arena for basketball and other indoor events, and a 4,000-seat aquatics centre with 50-metre swimming pool and diving well for training and competition.
The sports centre also provides extensive supporting facilities including athletes’ accommodation, as well as outdoor training pitches and running tracks that will support local government programmes which encourage increased sports participation in its schools to enhance the well-being of the region’s younger generations.
Located within Guangdong’s subtropical monsoon climate, this 70-hectare parkland on the banks of the river has been designed as an integral element of the district’s flood protection measures and will incorporate wetlands that manage excess water during extreme sea-level fluctuations.
The fluid forms of the centre's architecture echo the tapering geometries evident in the hulls of the region’s traditional sailing ships that were initially designed during the Song Dynasty approximately a thousand years ago. These historic vessels established the Pearl River as China’s leading centre of global trade.
The sports centre also integrates environmental concepts from the local Lingnan vernacular architecture that include generous areas of sheltered spaces cooled with effective natural ventilation techniques during the region’s humid subtropical summer months.
The stadium’s roof has been designed as a system of layers that shelter the 60,000 spectators from rain and direct sunlight while also enabling rising warm air to be naturally vented outside the building envelope. This distinctive layered roof encircles the stadium, emulating the pleated silk structures of traditional Chinese fans.
Adjacent to the primary approach from the north to the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge which connects the Greater Bay Area’s major urban centres, the sports centre’s architecture on the banks of the Pearl River marks the gateway to Guangzhou and the districts of the northern Greater Bay Area.
A network of vertical louvres defines the curvatures of each building within the centre. Informed by advanced digital 3D-modelling to optimise shading within their civic spaces, the buildings’ curvilinear forms are also designed to encourage natural cooling by the prevailing summer winds that blow inland from the South China Sea.
Hosting 60,000 spectators for a variety of different sporting events, the stadium’s seating bowl can be adjusted to provide ideal spectator conditions for each specific event; ensuring optimal views of the athletes and the most exciting event atmosphere, together with maximum flexibility for differing uses throughout the year.
The stadium can also be configured for cultural performances with spectators facing a stage that includes a unique backdrop. The grand arch in the stadium’s design gives panoramic views of the river during sports and cultural events, establishing a direct connection between all spectators and the stadium’s riverside setting.
Commissioned by the Nansha District Bureau of Culture & Sports following the 2023 international design competition, the centre has been designed by Zaha Hadid Architects in collaboration with the Guangdong Architectural Design & Research Institute.
Construction of the Greater Bay Area Sports Centre began on 31 August 2023. The main structures of the stadium and arena topped-out in February 2024. Installation of the arena and aquatics centre roofing and curtain walls completed in February 2025 when the project then entered its final stages of works towards its handover in June 2025.
Project Team
Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)
Design: Patrik Schumacher
ZHA Project Directors: Lei Zheng, Nils Fischer
ZHA Project Associates: Jinqi Huang, Vishu Bhooshan, Jakub Klaska
ZHA Project Architect: Hung-da Chien
ZHA Project Team: Teodor Andonov, Shajay Bhooshan, Taizhong Chen, Heba Eiz,Vegard Elseth, Matthew Gabe, Sonia Magdziarz, Ling Mao, Keerti Manney, Xin Swift, Ke Yang, Chris Whiteside, Svenja Siever, Tul Srisompun
ZHA Competition Team: Luca Bacilieri, Niran Buyukkoz, Junfei Chen, Nils Fischer, Matthew Gabe, Jakub Klask , Han Hsun Hsieh, Jingwen Yang, Paul Joseph, Shuaiwei Li, Juan Liu, Sonia Magdziarz, Yuling Ma, Satoshi Ohashi, Michael On, Xin Swift, Ceren Tekin, Ke Yang, Bo Zhang, Chu Zhou, Lei Zheng
Competition Sports Consultant: Clive John Lewis
Competition Consortium Member: Guangzhou Architectural Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd.
Consultants
Executive Architect: Guangzhou Architectural Design & Research Institute (GDAD), China Southwest Architectural Design and Research Institute (CSWADI)
Structural Engineers: GDAD, CSWADI
General Contractor: China Construction Eighth Engineering Division & China Construction Third Engineering Division
Façade Engineering: RFR(Rice Francis Ritchie sarl) Engineers, GDAD, CSWADI
M&E Engineering: GDAD, CSWADI
Landscape Consultant: AECOM
Lighting Design: Lichtvision Design & Tsinghua Urban Planning and Design Institute (THUPDI)
Site Supervision: Guangzhou Runhe Consulting Co., Ltd., Guangzhou Pearl River Supervision and Consulting Group, Guangzhou Construction Engineering Supervision Co.
