Rising from the site of a former quarry at the foot of Antuo Hill, the new Antuoshan Public Cultural Center is the first large-scale cultural complex in Futian District, the ultra-modern business and administrative heart of Shenzhen.
Opened in December 2025, the landmark stacks its performance spaces vertically inside a striking tower-and-podium structure, packing a grand theatre, a concert hall, and four black box theatres into more than 100,000 sq m, alongside round-the-clock study rooms, rehearsal studios and recording suites.
Each space has its own character. The 1,000-seat grand theatre is built for spectacle, hosting large-scale plays, musicals and ballet, while the 500-seat concert hall is tuned for the intimacy of chamber music and contemporary experimentation.
Together they make Antuoshan both a stage for world-class performance and an incubator for the next generation of talent, and a clear statement of Futian District’s investment in the cultural life of the Greater Bay Area.
From the earliest design stages, the team behind the Antuoshan Public Cultural Center set a high bar for its technical facilities, and the choice of sound system proved straightforward. The venue’s owner had already trusted L-Acoustics on two previous projects, Futian DreamWorks and Star Theatre, so when L-Acoustics Certified Provider Racpro recommended the technology again, it extended a proven partnership.
The brief was demanding. Across two very different rooms, the venue wanted world-class sound with exceptional clarity, fidelity and even coverage from the first row to the last. Every loudspeaker also had to stay out of sight, preserving the clean architectural lines that define both spaces. The result had to be acoustically uncompromising and visually invisible in equal measure.
Xia Zhushan, vice general manager, Racpro, said: “In the Grand Theatre, we knew from the outset that L-ISA would be central to the experience we wanted to create. In the concert hall, where space was at a premium, the compact form factor and discreet profile of Kiva II let us deliver full-range coverage with no visible footprint.”
Ou Xiangjun, senior system engineer at Racpro added: “Soundvision was a crucial part of our process. Rather than simply confirming coverage once positions were fixed, it allowed us to test how far the loudspeakers could be tucked out of sight above the stage or into its front edge while still maintaining even coverage across every seat in the house.”
During installation, it became clear that the steel structure of the sound bridge was obstructing high-frequency propagation from the main hangs. Rather than compromising on coverage, Racpro worked with the contractor to modify the sound bridge structure itself, which ensured the system could perform exactly as Soundvision had predicted.
This proved especially important on opening night, when the centre featured a demanding performance by pianist Lang Lang, conductor Lin Daye and the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra. Xiangjun said: “The modelling we’d done in Soundvision gave us the confidence to commit to a concealed installation for the main system, knowing the predicted results would hold up under the scrutiny of a sold-out house and a programme built around one of the world's most recognisable pianists.”
At the heart of the grand theatre sits L-ISA. Five hangs of four A15i, each in a two Focus, two Wide configuration, form the frontal Scene that anchors the immersive image, with Panflex directivity shaping every cabinet to the exact zone it serves. Around the audience, 26 X8 wrap both floors and four overhead X12 add the height layer, while two A15i Wide close off the last blind spots. Nine 5XT along the stage lip and seven in the orchestra pit sit recessed into the stage edge, adding near-field detail where the closest seats meet the performers, with no visible footprint. Two KS28 per side, flown beside the central Scene hang, and one further KS28 per side on the ground give the room the weight its orchestral and theatrical programming demands. Fourteen X12 handle stage monitoring.
Amplification and processing keep the same discipline. Five LA4X power the frontal Scene, three the height system and seven the surrounds with five used for back-ups. Two LA12X drive the subwoofers, one for the flown units and one for the ground stack, while five LA2Xi cover the fills: one for the A15i out-fills and four for the front-fills and pit-fills. Two L-ISA Processor II units run the immersive system.
The concert hall called for the same restraint. Twelve Kiva II, flown in two hangs of six either side of the stage, all but vanish against the room’s dark surfaces while delivering wide, even coverage to every seat. Two SB15m extend the low end, and 10 5XT embedded in the stage lift the front rows to the clarity of the rest of the room. Four X12 serve as stage monitors, and the whole system runs on just five LA4X for the main hangs and subs, with two LA2Xi on the front-fills.
Opening night left no doubt about the capabilities of Antuoshan Public Cultural Center’s sound system. Audiences experienced an exceptional level of clarity and spatial depth that made Lang Lang’s performance with the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra feel immediate and intimate.
Zhushan said: “The concert brought together so many maestros, and through L-ISA, we were able to ensure they sounded clear, natural and dynamic — yet with almost no trace of traditional sound reinforcement.”
Several months in and the Antuoshan Public Cultural Center continues to prove that it has everything it needs to anchor Futian District’s cultural life.