The customers wanted to renovate a significant section of the port, make it more enjoyable for passengers, connect with the rest of the city and open up access to water for citizens.
At the same time, the terminal building was supposed not only to serve passenger traffic, but also to contain the administrative premises of the port administration and other institutions. The "Reiser + Umemoto" option assumes the separation of all functions vertically: from the lounge for departing passengers below to the administration above. The actual "sea terminal" is enclosed in a podium, the upper surface of which, between the multi-storey buildings, will become a new public space, raised above the level of the embankment.
The "three-dimensional urbanism" of the architects is expressed in the use of both the configuration of the site stretched along the water and the possibility of vertical division of functional zones, as well as in connection with the city outside the port territory. Urban recreational facilities, as well as a nearby pop music center (
the results of the corresponding competition will be announced next month) will ensure activity around the terminal 24 hours a day.
The project budget is $ 80-85 million, construction is planned for 2012-2014. It should be noted that the victory of "Raiser + Umemoto" did not come as a surprise to the observers: they took first place in the recent
competition for the Taipei Pop Center project, and Taiwanese customers are known for their penchant for proven options.
