Even before its completion at the end of the year, the Shanghai International Cruise Terminal mixed-use development has already clinched its first architectural award. The development, designed by international award-winning architects Sparch, won in the Best Mixed-Use Buildings category in the prestigious industry 2011 MIPIM Asia Awards.
     Sparch was appointed the master planner of the Cruise Terminal mixed-use development in 2004. Totalling a floor area of more than 260,000 sq m, the development comprises 80 per cent commercial use and 20 per cent public facilities, and entertainment and retail outlets.
     The Shanghai International Cruise Terminal offers an eclectic mix of business and entertainment to Shanghai residents and strengthened the city's status as a key commerce and tourism hub. The highlight of the development is a structure called the 'Shanghai Chandelier' - a 40m-high glass-clad portal that overlooks the public park and waterfront where an open space is set aside for residents and tourists to gather for festivals and events. The structure houses several 'floating' cafes, restaurants and bars suspended on cables in an extraordinary three-dimensional composition, the first suspended cable construction of its kind in the world.
     The project also bears the signature imprint of Sparch in marrying environmental sustainability to creative design. The development utilises the "River Water Cooling Technology", a first in Shanghai - where water from the Huangpu River is used as a refrigerant to naturally cool the buildings during the hot summer months, and then recycled back to the river.


The Shanghai Chandelier is the gateway to the multiple public arenas on
the site, including the hospitality venues within the suspended structures.


At 400 m long, the new Shanghai International Cruise Terminal is a
significant addition to the city's landscape.