A two million sq ft (185,806sq m) museum complex is to be built in the Chinese port city of Qingdao, with the cultural centre featuring museums, galleries, art islands and public spaces.

The Qingdao Culture and Art Centre, designed by Steven Holl Architects, will house four museums connected by a specially designed light loop that mimics the characteristics of China’s Jiaozhou Bay Bridge - the world’s largest bridge over water. The creation of the centre is part of a new expansion to be added to the city region, which is thought to accommodate an extra 700,000 people.

The light loop has been designed to connect all parts of the site, while containing gallery space for visitors to view as they explore the centre. The loop is also raised in such a way that it permits the natural sounds and breezes that blow in from the nearby ocean to flow across the attraction.

The main feature of the site is the use of art islands, otherwise known as Yishudao, which come in the form of three sculpted cubes and four small landscaped art areas.

The Modern Art Museum is to sit in the central square of the site, while the Public Arts Museum will form the main experience for those who enter from the south. The north Yishudao will house the Classic Art Museum and the south Yishudao is to hold the Performing Arts Programme and exhibition space.

The use of the light loop also creates different spaces for the public, including a central square for large gatherings, which overlooks a water garden.

Holl is renowned for its focus on the sustainable use of resources and has recognised the need for these details to be translated into Chinese structures, as seen in the firm’s recent completion of the environmentally friendly Sifang Art Museum in Nanjing.

Similar sensibilities are to be employed at the complex in Qingdao, with the masterplan featuring the use of solar cells in the site’s light loop, in order to provide 80 per cent of the museum's electrical needs. Reflecting ponds at the site will help to recycle water, while 480 geothermal wells will provide heating and cooling for the centre.

Qingdao is emerging as one of China’s most culturally expansive cities, with the region holding the watersport section of the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

In 2017 the city is to become home to a cinematic mega-complex created by the country’s Dalian Wanda group, which is to invest US$8.2bn (£5.1bn, €6bn) in a bid to push China’s cinema industry further onto the world stage.