This project was an entry for an competition to plan the redevelopment of a large ferry terminal and several blocks of adjacent land. The site represents 1.2 km of prime real estate along the Huang Pu River, just south of the famous “Bund” - Shanghai’s waterfront promenade, and the site of numerous buildings which recall Shanghai’s cosmopolitan and multicultural history. It also faces the new business district of Pudong, and thus enjoys unimpeded views of its dramatic skyline.

The area around the site is the location of Shanghai’s original settlements, and lies in close proximity to the old “walled city”. This area is characterized by winding streets and alleys, courtyard housing, and small scale architecture, as well as the famous Yu Yuan Garden. Areas like these are fast disappearing as China modernizes. However, the government has recognized it has a vested interest in preserving this history, and plans to maintain it in its current use as a tourist district.

Currently, the site is made up of numerous, unconnected parcels, and is divided by a wide, 8 lane, through-traffic expressway: Zhongshan Lu. This configuration makes redevelopment of the Pier difficult and innefficient. It also prevents easy access to the waterfront and the Ferry terminal from the surrounding city.

The goal was to redevelop the site to accommodate an upgraded ferry terminal and transit interchanges, to extend the waterfront Promenade, and to create a mixed use destination that helps to connect people with the water. The proposed design addresses these issues by combining parcels, and positioning a significant part of the massing over the expressway. This “bridging” over the road with a large shopping complex facilitates its crossing, and allows for the creation of a large public park where the buildings would otherwise have been. The open space is then “activated” by the uses within the mall: restaurants and cafes, a multiplex cinema, etc. Sitting above the mall are 4 slab office buildings connected with shared atriums and sky lobbies. These long, horizontal forms extend the form of the Bund and contrast with what is increasingly a vertical city, creating a different kind of landmark. One tall, twin tower office building provides a vertical marker at the southern end of the site. Hotels on either end frame the public uses in between and are massed so as to overlook, but not cast shadows, in the park. They also overlook the old city.

Terraced Gardens above the mall step down to the river and allow for outdoor dining, cafes, and quiet reflection of the river traffic and the Pudong skyline. The ferry terminal itself connects at lower levels to buses, taxicabs, and a future light rail line that will follow the current expressway. A second deck of road above the through traffic “tunnel” accomodates drop offs and pick ups for the offices and shopping mall complex.