SOM Designs New Waterfront Neighborhood for Zhuhai, China’s Most Livable City
Recently connected to international finance and tourism centers Hong Kong and Macau via the longest sea-crossing bridge in the world, Zhuhai has emerged as an eco-conscious city in the coastal region known as the Greater Bay Area. Named the most livable city in China by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Zhuhai plays a pivotal role in the region’s growing tech hub, which might soon rival Silicon Valley. In an effort to transform the city’s waterfront and create a blueprint for future development, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) was selected from a shortlist of 10 global design firms to create Jiuzhou Bay — a new 5.6 million-square-foot mixed-use neighborhood that features offices, residences, retail, and infrastructure.
The design sets a new standard for public transit in the region, with plans for a robust transportation hub that offers connections to land, sea, and rail across more than 40 acres. It also features five modular canopies that envelop three sides of a 1.8 million-square-foot port, weaving together a landscape of towers rising behind it and creating a series of covered pedestrian alleyways, a lively retail environment, and interlinked courtyards along the waterfront promenade.