Practice competing to design £30 million extension to Beijing Central Academy of Drama

Sutherland Hussey has been shortlisted to design a £30 million extension to Beijing’s Central Academy of Drama, working with Chinese partner Pansolution International.

Three local firms will be competing with the Edinburgh-based practice to design a 600-seat theatre, an exhibition space and a café to the rear of the academy, which is located in the Dongcheng district of the Chinese capital.

The existing building is 16m tall and next to a hutong, a traditional Chinese residential area comprised of narrow streets. Colin Harris, director at Sutherland Hussey, said: “It’s quite a challenging site.”

The academy was established in 1950 and is one of the top drama schools in China.