Heller Manus Architects, a San Francisco, California-based architecture company has recently won a competition to design the new Xiangyun Island International Cruise Terminal situated at the Bohai Sea – the innermost gulf of the Yellow Sea on the coast of Northeastern and North China.
The competition was won by the architects in collaboration with AECOM, a global provider of professional technical and management support services, in this case transport.
The to be constructed terminal at the Tangshan Bay, China, will serve as a connecting link to a major tourist attraction coming up at the Bohai Sea, located an approximate of 149 miles from east Beijing and christened the Tangshan Bay International Tourist Island. The landmark cruise terminal will have the capacity to hold a total of 150 boats at a time and is a 263 million Yuan ($40.46 million) project.
The project has been designed to meet world-class standards on the lines of yin-yang – a Chinese concept that describe how polar or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn.
This symbolic port will be a junction between the Tangshan Bay and the rest of the world. A project of such calibre is underlined in its architectural design. With more and more international designers and architects adopting eco-friendly and sustainable elements in their design, sustainable architecture has gained a ‘must have’ status in order to fit in the world standards.
The terminal design keeping up this norm has also been created on the best at hand world-saving, earth-friendly design elements. The design plan is inclusive of wetland parks and a ‘living’ or a green roof full of various plantations, in order to absorb rainwater, providing insulation and lower surrounding temperatures. This roof can be accessed by means of glass elevators situated on the outside of the building.
Care has been taken to include water preservation techniques at the new terminal, the facility will be lit by LED lights all across its exteriors. In order to prevent heat, the building is protected from the direct heat of the sun on the south by means of glazing systems. The terminal’s pier stands facing the present jetty on the east. This sort of a setup is created for ease in movement of the ships across the berths.
The terminal has been made even more utilitarian and flexible with the use of unique finger pier configuration method that allows in two local and one ship abroad at a time. A waiting area has been designed on the northern side for passenger and visitors, which includes benches and fabric canopies. Apart from that, the design caters to the recreation of the people with two parks named ‘Bon Voyage’ – as per the theme of the area.
