In April 1998 the Chinese government announced an open competition to design ‘one of the best arts palaces in the world’. The proposed development incorporated a 2200-seat opera house, a concert hall, a national theatre and mini-theatre, and a public park. The selection process consisted of five different briefs in five stages over a 16-month period. Terry Farrell & Partners reached the fifth-stage submission along with architect Paul Andreu, who emerged as the final winner.

Terry Farrell & Partners initial submission was a colourful low-rise box, organised within a nine-square grid, each section of which was dedicated to a separate but linked function. The three sections facing the main, north elevation were connected to form an entrance and foyer space. The three cultural sections, each a different colour, housed the theatre, concert hall, and opera house. The three southern sections were given over to back-of-house facilities.

The scheme went through several revisions. In the first scheme a large foyer was to be clad with screens which visualised performances happening in the main auditoria. In the second revision, a crystal wall was inserted in the north elevation of the building to provide increased permeability between the performance spaces and the street. During the third stage revision, the client wanted more references to classical Chinese traditions, and so the fly towers of the opera house and theatre were positioned beneath two saucer like roofs to provide an appearance of weightlessness. During the final submission revision phase, the site itself was moved from Tian’anmen Square to a larger but less prominent area 70 metres behind the Great Hall of the People. Along with the change of site came the removal of an earlier height restriction and less emphasis on Chinese tradition. The final submissions retained the transparency of the original concept, as well as an aspiration for the building to harmonize with the rest of the city, but was given greater solidity and a more dramatic roofline.