Unesco heritage sites such as A-Ma Temple, Senado Square and St Paul's ruins may well be regarded as the highlights of Macau's architecture, but a new post-modern dome-shaped construction on the Cotai strip is the talk of the town.
This giant structure, the Macau East Asian Games Dome - together with 10 other sports facilities either newly built or extensively refurbished - forms the heart of the Macau East Asian Games Organising Committee's (Meacog) efforts to stage the quadrennial multi-sport event. But the dome is more than just a sports facility. It will also serve the Macau public in other ways long after the games have finished.
The three-storey complex consists of two separate indoor pavilions, one of which houses the arena and the theatre, while the other contains the large Convention Centre hall that can accommodate up to 2,000 people.
The 7,000-seat Dome Arena will host the closing ceremony as well as the gymnastics competition. The Dome Theatre, which features a central stage and a U-shaped spectator seating area for up to 2,000 people, will provide a perfect venue for the dance sport competition.
Albert Yeung Kam-yin, the brains behind the dome's conceptual design, says the multi-functionality of the building echoed Macau's multi-cultural quality.
'As we were brainstorming for the dome's design we thought we should do something to match Macau's unique characteristics, one of which is being multi-cultural. You have many different elements in the dome, just like you can find so many different cultural elements in this small enclave,' says Yeung, who drafted the design with Tony Pannell five years ago.