Views of the Huangpu River, the picturesque Pudong skyline, and the historic Bund comprise the primary value proposition of the development. North Bund is an attractive destination for companies that desire these unparalleled vistas as well as state-of-the art offices. The Perkins Eastman team devised a design plan for eight unique buildings with varying heights, layouts, and exterior materials that offer different vantage points, maximizing panoramic, artfully framed middle-distance views and daylight, enhancing their occupants’ experience. Individualized and differentiated building identities provide business executives with choices, increasing leasing and sales appeal as well as overall value. A traditional Chinese building material, terra cotta, appears on many of the buildings, tying them all together and honoring the region’s history.

While showcasing the spectacle of big yachts, the centerpiece marina also underpins the District Energy System (DES) by functioning as a heat sink and utilizing cold river water for heat rejection from the surrounding buildings, yielding annual energy savings of 14 to 25 percent. Under the marina, a stormwater and greywater reservoir collects 13,400 tons of water, covering 40 percent of the total project water usage by serving low-flow sanitary fixtures and site-wide irrigation. The marina’s unique lock system, the first of its kind in Shanghai, also creates a micro-climate benefitting the surrounding plaza through evaporative cooling during the warm months, and as a moderating body of water during the cold months. It also functions as a flood barrier in case of water level rise.

After more than 150 years as sequestered docklands, this riverfront setting has become the city’s next great place, reuniting citizens with their waterfront with a generous and varied public realm. Multiple modes of public transportation are brought together, including subway, bus, and ferry, making North Bund easily accessible to all. The development introduces new economic vitality, generating jobs and much needed commercial and retail services that benefit a formerly underserved community.

“Huishan North Bund represents an increasingly important typology of urban architecture: waterfront regeneration. Throughout the world, cities are rediscovering and reimagining their neglected and underutilized waterfronts. As former maritime facilities and working waterfronts are redeveloped to become vibrant, waterside communities, the public at large is also being invited back to the water’s edge, to enjoy riverfronts and harbor fronts —arguably any city’s most valuable natural assets.” -Chao-Ming Wu, AIA