Zaha Hadid Architects’ construction of Greater Bay Area Sports Center is in its final stages of interior finishing and landscaping, with completion scheduled for June in preparation for the China National Games in November 2025. Located in Guangzhou’s Nansha District on the western bank of the Pearl River, the sports center will serve as a focal point for the region’s growing civic, business, and residential hub.
As part of the world’s largest conurbation, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, which is expected to reach a population of 100 million by 2030, the center is designed to provide top-tier sports facilities for both professional athletes and the local community. It will host a variety of national and international sporting events, as well as cultural performances, and is easily accessible via Guangzhou Metro’s Line 18 and the new Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge.
Beyond major sporting events, the center will play a key role in China’s sports development initiatives by offering high-quality facilities for Nansha’s schools and sports clubs. Its design takes advantage of the district’s mild winters, creating ideal outdoor training conditions to support competitive athletes across all track and field disciplines. The venue will also provide essential infrastructure to nurture future sporting talent.
Gallery: China’s Greater Bay Area Sports Center (Construction works)
Set within a 70-hectare park along the Pearl River, the complex features a 60,000-seat stadium, a 20,000-seat indoor arena for basketball and other events, and a 4,000-seat aquatics center with a 50-meter swimming pool and diving well for training and competition. The parkland setting offers residents access to landscaped green spaces for recreation, while also serving as part of the district’s flood protection measures with integrated wetlands to manage extreme sea-level fluctuations.
The sports center is further complemented by athlete accommodation, outdoor training pitches, and running tracks to support local government programmes aimed at increasing sports participation among young people. Its architectural design, inspired by the tapering geometries of the region’s historic sailing vessels from the Song Dynasty, pays homage to the Pearl River’s legacy as China’s gateway to global trade.
The sports center 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 centers, 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 center. Informed by advanced digital 3D-modeling to optimize 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 center has been designed by Zaha Hadid Architects in collaboration with the Guangdong Architectural Design & Research Institute.
Construction of the Greater Bay Area Sports Center began on 31 August 2023. The main structures of the stadium and arena topped-out in February 2024. Installation of the arena and aquatics center roofing and curtain walls completed in February 2025 when the project then entered its final stages of works towards its handover in June 2025.