Bureau: ABT bv

Happy Street: a street length of technical ingenuity

Location: China

In Shanghai, a street 350 metres long shows the Netherlands’ rich constructional heritage, plus top inventions in the field of energy reduction and sustainability. To make the design technically feasible was a complex task.
In Shanghai, the Dutch pavilion for the World Expo has been presented: Happy Street. Chinese media have already called the project one of the most remarkable entries for this edition of the world exhibition, which has “Better City, Better Life” as a theme.

Architect John Körmeling designed a street of 350 metres that spirals upwards like a roller coaster to a height of 13.3 metres. Hanging from this Happy Street will be twenty ‘houses’ in different Dutch architectural styles, varying from a 17th century canal house to a Rietveld-type house. The pavilion also shows Dutch inventions in the field of energy reduction and sustainability.

ABT is responsible for elaborating the architectural design on constructional, structural, physical and installation technical aspects. This was a particularly complex job. The pavilion’s weight is entirely carried on columns; there are no stabilising walls. The hanging houses create considerable eccentric loads. Earthquakes, not unknown in this part of China, form a different kind of risk. Apart from this “un-Dutch” load, there will be millions of visitors walking on the construction soon, so it must not vibrate too much.

Local parties, including the Tongji University in Shanghai, are assisting in the construction. The construction has started in late 2008. The twenty million Euros for the construction, decoration and exploitation of the pavilion have been raised by the Dutch government and the corporate sector. 

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This project is part of 'Dutch engineers: creating all over the world'

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