foster + partners: khan shatyr entertainment centre opens

‘khan shatyr entertainment centre’ by foster + partners in astana, kazakhstan all images courtesy of foster + partners

the ‘khan shatyr entertainment centre‘, the world’s tallest tensile structure, celebrated its grand opening in astana, kazakhstan earlier this week. designed by foster + partners, the 150m tall tent-like structure encloses an elliptical area of more than 100,000 square meters. the new centre hosts a wide variety of entertainment and leisure facilities, retail, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, a water park, and a flexible space to accommodate a number of different events and exhibitions.

to deal with astana’s drastically polar climate (-35 degrees celsius in the winter and +35 in the summer) the tent is made up of a tri-layer ETFE envelope that shelters the interiors while allowing daylight to wash in. to avoid the formation of ice on the inside of the envelope during the winter, a system is in place to monitor the interior temperature while warm air currents are directed up the inner surface of the fabric. during the summer, the vents at the top of the tents can be opened to encourage stack-effect ventilation. low-level jets can also keep the temperature down by directing cool air across the space.

night view render

interior render

section

floor plan, level 1

level 2

level 3

level 4

level 5