National Centre for the Performing Arts

Traxon e:cue brightens the façade and outdoor landscapes of the China National Centre for the Performing Arts, adding new charms to this People’s Opera House, and creating a broader and elegant public cultural space in the very center of the capital.

Designed by the world-renowned French architect Paul Andreu, the China National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) locates in the Tiananmen Square, the heart of the capital Beijing, right next to the Great Hall of the People, the state’s supreme authority, and facing the Forbidden City across the street. The NCPA has long been regarded as the treasure of Chinese culture and art. Every year, thousands of events are operated to entertain millions of people. Fine art and pop-trend, Chinese heritages and foreign cultures meet here and reshape each other. This place is no doubt a world-top palace of arts.

The NCPA offers beautiful enjoyment to visitors from inside out: whether they are attending the cultural events in the performance halls or viewing the changing light and shadow of the building itself. Standing in the square, people are usually awed by this Giant Egg, like a dome from outer space.

Upon its 10th anniversary, the NCPA decided to upgrade the old, damaged and power-hungry outdoor lighting fixtures with a modern lighting system and has eventually selected OSRAM Traxon e:cue as the supplier of the project. Hundreds of OSRAM Customized LED Washer RGBW high-powered floodlights are placed in a circular arrangement around the 100,000-square-meter theater. A two-month improvement was made to minimize glare and optimize the RGBW dynamic lighting effect. In addition to static photography, the NCPA’s outdoor lighting also enables gradient colors and mixed lighting upon holidays or important occasions, bringing color-changing glamor to the Tiananmen Square.

The new lighting system provides the NCPA a gorgeous look, and more importantly, attaches it with a wide and bright outer plaza where dwellers amble and mingle day and night, and trees and flowers flourish by the limpid lake. This place has become a destination where human, art and nature can co-exist, interact and improve together.

The new lighting system reinvigorates the NCPA into Beijing’s pearl with just the right light. Its elegance and artistry make the NCPA a useful reference for outdoor lighting in opera houses across China.