Waterfront Architecture: The Latest Architecture and News

The redevelopment of the International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum in Liverpool, UK, has been officially approved. Led by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, the project titled "Two Museums, One Vision" aims to transform the two venues on Liverpool's waterfront into engaging and welcoming spaces that properly address contemporary issues and reveal untold histories. aims to comprehensively narrate Britain's maritime history alongside its involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. Both venues are set to close early in 2025 for the redevelopment works to begin, according to the National Museums Liverpool. The completion date is scheduled for 2028.

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As humanity enters the AI-driven intelligent era, technology platform enterprises adopt more open and flexible modes of operation. Collaborative spaces such as creative incubators and informal exchange areas have become key places for practicing their operational philosophies. In the design of headquarters buildings, companies aim to engage with the public more deeply and convey their corporate culture and spirit, in addition to fulfilling daily office functions. Alibaba's new headquarters in Shanghai is located in the "Global Waterfront Lifestyle Demonstration Zone," at the heart of the West Bank Cultural Corridor. Positioned by the river and near the West Bank Media Port, Financial City, and other industrial hubs, the site integrates art with industrial heritage, bringing a unique historical and contemporary vibrancy to the area. The architecture around the park is "star-studded," with forward-thinking designs from renowned architectural firms worldwide. The three buildings of Alibaba Xuhui Riverside Campus, designed by SANAA, Foster + Partners, and SOM, are introducing new concepts and visions to Xuhui Riverside.

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Landscape architecture firm SCAPE together with Bjarke Ingels Group have announced plans to transform Connecticut's Manresa Island into a public-oriented development as a hub for learning, exploration, and community engagement. Originally slanted for private waterfront housing, the new scheme aims to open up the area as a public park with ample waterfront access, a project led by SCAPE. Additionally, the decommissioned coal-fired power plant is set to be converted by BIG into a community hub for multiple activities including swimming, small and large-scale events, research, and educational rooms. Supported by a private philanthropic investment from Austin McChord, the project is set to open in 2030 through a phased development.

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At the initiative of the Surf Ghana Collective, architects Glenn DeRoché and Jurgen Strohmayer, the co-founders of DeRoché Strohmayer, set out to transform a small waterfront plot in Busua, a surfing hotspot on Ghana’s western coast. The result is a dynamic community hub, complete with amenities for local surfers, but also providing spaces for the entire community to gather in and off-season. The project has been recognized as the winner of the Gold Prize of Holcim Awards 2023 for the Middle East and Africa commended for the profound local impact and the resourceful approach to construction techniques. In a video interview for ArchDaily, architects Glenn DeRoché and Jurgen Strohmayer discuss the development of this initiative and the innovations that shaped it.

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SO-IL, in partnership with Detroit’s Library Street Collective, has revealed the design for a new arts campus in the Stanton Yards marina on the Detroit River. The office is leading the adaptive reuse of four existing pre-war industrial buildings at Stanton Yards with the aim of creating a campus for arts organizations, creative retail, artist studios, and independent hospitality ventures along the waterfront. The master plan for the 13-acre site is led by design firm OSD (Office of Strategy + Design), a development that strives to transform the now-disused waterfront area into a 'dynamic cultural amenity' with over 80,000 square feet of commercial and creative space, 85 boat slips, and programmed waterfront parks. The project aims to expand upon the program of Detroit's Little Village, a diverse arts neighborhood recognized for its cultural and artistic scene.

Zaha Hadid Architects have unveiled a large-scale project for the redevelopment of the Al Khuwair waterfront in downtown Muscat, the capital of Oman. The $1.3bn project covers an area of 3.3 million square meters. It aims to revitalize the area through sustainability-led design principles to accommodate the expected population growth, which is expected to almost double by 2040. The plans are developed in collaboration with Buro Happold to incorporate and transform the existing buildings on site, introduce coastal and climate resilience measures, and create an efficient transit-oriented infrastructure.

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After winning the international competition for the design of the Vltava Philharmonic Hall in May 2022, Danish studio BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group has now developed the design into a detailed architectural study. The project continues the central concept of the competition, that of connecting the riverbank with the venue’s rooftop via a meandering path that expands the public space and invites visitors to engage with the new building. Construction is expected to start in 2027, after completing the project documentation for the building permit and selecting a contractor. The Philharmonic Hall is expected to open in 2032.

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Architects, urban planners, and researchers from around the world are working on solutions to address the rising threat of climate change and climate-induced rise in sea levels and storm surges. Among them, MVRDV, as part of the North Creek Collective, has released a series of proposals for the city of Vancouver, mapping out possible adaptations of waterfront buildings, landscape, and infrastructure. On a similar note, a group of researchers led by Adrian Lahoud has developed the Second Sea Calculator, a digital tool that estimates the financial damages owned to coastal cities by different nations, while Human Climate Horizons has developed a platform for visualizing how different levels of global heating will affect people’s lives.

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AKIN has been announced as the winning team in the Barangaroo Harbour Park Design Competition, a project that will transform a central location along the waterfront of Sydney, Australia. The winning team is a First Nations-led and Sydney-based ground composed of Yerrabingin, Architectus, Flying Fish Blue, Jacob Nash Design, and Studio Chris Fox, with Arup as engineering consultants. Through its designers, the group integrates Indigenous knowledge systems along with landscape architecture, regenerative design, public art, and place-making.

Heatherwick Studio has unveiled the design of an exhibition hall situated on Shanghai's emerging West Bund waterfront, in China. Known as the 'West Bund Orbit,' this building will be the focal point of the new Financial Hub in the Xuhui District. Set to become a prominent landmark along the Huangpu riverside, the project is a pivotal public space for passersby, welcoming visitors to its cultural design program.

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The 2023 Winter Stations has just announced eight winning projects for their 9th annual international competition. The winners were chosen from hundreds of entries from around the world, along with three student designs from Toronto Metropolitan University, Waterloo Department of Architecture, and Guelph University. The competition was first launched at Woodbine beach by RAW design, Ferris + Associates, and Curio, to capture the imagination of designers and architects to create bold designs that spark conversation, transforming lifeguard stations at Toronto’s Woodbine beach. Furthermore, since these lifeguard stations are usually dormant throughout the winter, the exhibition inspires artists to bring the public back outdoors with their unique designs.

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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

This week, the Museum of Modern Art officially launches a new series of exhibitions entitled Architecture Now. According to MoMA, “The first iteration of the series, New York, New Publics, will explore the ways in which New York City–based practices have been actively expanding the relationship of metropolitan architecture to different publics through 12 recently completed projects.”

The exhibition will showcase public-facing work, such as parks, community gardens, and pools, by Adjaye Associates, Agency—Agency and Chris Woebken, CO Adaptive, James Corner Field Operations, Kinfolk Foundation, nArchitects, New Affiliates and Samuel Stewart-Halevy, Olalekan Jeyifous, Only If, PetersonRich Office, SO – IL, and SWA/Balsley and Weiss/Manfredi.

Norwegian architecture offices A-lab and LPO revealed the plan to develop the last remaining plot in Bispevika, part of the Fjord City, a large-scale waterfront urban renewal project in the center of Oslo, Norway. The intervention strengthens the connection between the historic medieval city of Oslo to the new Fjord City while also introducing cultural, creative, and commercial activities to the area. The project comprises five buildings forming a quarter. The proposed massing and height take a contextual approach as they are reduced toward important local monuments such as the baroque residence “Ladegården” with its baroque garden “Barokkhagen." The project is developed by Oslo S Utvikling (OSU), the same client behind the Barcode project, and in collaboration with landscape architects SLA.

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The city of Helsinki has announced White Arkitekter and K2S Architects as the winners of the competition to design a new waterfront cultural destination in the Makasiiniranta area of Helsinki’s South Harbor. The redevelopment includes the site of a New Museum of Architecture and Design. Titled ‘Saaret,’ which translates to ‘The Islands,’ the proposal aims to create a well-integrated development that brings together cultural and sustainable environments. It also promises to improve the area’s microclimate and create bio-diverse habitats by using the space available on the rooftops to add beehives, vegetable and herb gardens.

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First drafted by Renzo Piano and developed by RPBW and OBR, the Waterfront di Levante is a project that aims to transform what was previously the back of a port into a new urban front on the sea. The development is planned to become a new landmark on the seafront of Genoa, Italy, by bringing new urban and port functions, both public and private, to an underutilized area. By controlling the built-to-open area ratio, it also seeks to enhance the connection between the city and the sea. The project introduces functions such as the new Urban Park, a new dock, residences, offices, student housing, retail facilities, apart-hotels, and a new sports hall.

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KCAP won the design competition for the Coastline of Yantai, Shandong Province, south of Beijing. As one of China's top 10 ports and a gateway city for communication between Japan and South Korea, Yantai Seafront Garden will transform the underused coastal area into an influential economic and technological development zone in Northeast China. The conceptual proposal was selected by its vision of 4 stages along the 95km of waterfront, including water conservation zones, a "sponge city" community, and a resident tidal shoreline.

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