Large Cultural Tourism Steel Structure Project – "Nautilus"

The Exhibition Center of Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis gets its name from its nautilus-like shape. It serves as the iconic gateway to the Oriental Movie Metropolis Film & Television Industrial Park and is one of Eihe Steel Structure’s representative projects in the field of large-scale complex steel structures for cultural tourism.

The "Nautilus" boasts a total construction area of approximately 4,500 square meters, a building height of 23 meters, and a diameter span of over 60 meters. The whole building adopts an internal steel formwork support system, a spatial structure supported by an inner steel frame with outer structures attached to it. It imposes extremely high requirements on component fabrication precision and on-site installation sequence.

The most prominent technical challenge of the project lies in its special-shaped structure with spiral curved surfaces. The interior of the building consists of more than 3,000 nodes and tens of thousands of steel members, with the total weight of irregular steel components reaching 2,400 tons. Since there are almost no standard components, the project team adopted 3D modeling technology throughout the detailed design process, breaking down the complex curved shape into processable member units. By precisely coding components and controlling the installation sequence, the on-site assembly was completed in one go. This digital construction method of "modeling first, decomposition second, assembly last" was an early exploration and practice in the industry back in 2013. In terms of architectural effect, the spiraling steel frame, coordinated with the curtain wall system, forms a smooth curved shape, integrating modern technological sense with marine culture and achieving harmony between architecture and nature.

In 2013, when Eihe Steel Structure undertook the Oriental Movie Metropolis project, the company had been established for only 8 years. Since then, Oriental Movie Metropolis has gradually developed into a world-class film and television production base, and the "Nautilus" has always stood as its iconic entrance building. The 20th China Huabiao Film Awards Ceremony was held at Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis. As one of the event venues, the "Nautilus" provided site support for this grand event of China's film industry.

With the continuous development of China's film industry, Eihe Steel Structure will continue to delve into large-scale cultural tourism buildings and complex spatial steel structures, and create more influential architectural works with craftsmanship.