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 and include panoramic and artfully framed middle distance views. 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 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%. The marina also doubles as the development’s storm water reservoir and supplies the greywater reuse system, serving low-flow sanitary fixtures and site-wide irrigation. The marina’s unique lock system, the first of its kind in Shanghai, supports a central submerged HVAC plant that creates a micro-climate benefitting the surrounding plaza by keeping it cool during the summer months and moderating the water temperature during winter months.

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