Cruise Terminal / Hexia Architects

Background. Ginkgo Swan Lake is located in the Xiushui New District of Jiaxing. Based on the natural ecological landscape, it uses abundant water resources and integrates rich traditional culture. At the same time, it introduces unique projects such as ginkgo forest, small train tour around the lake, art museum, ecological bird island, and water village. It is committed to build a new city to experience future life with harmonious coexistence of ecology and nature, wisdom and technology, integration of art and humanity. The Cruise Terminal is located along the side of the lake.

Design concept. Queuing is boring. Traveling in a utopian like Swan Lake, people should enjoy the time when waiting for the boat. The starting point of our design is very simple, is to make waiting fun.

Space. Stair is the most ambiguous element in architecture, just like “waiting”, it is an in-between status. “Up” and “Down” are two relative concepts in space. If the “middle” connecting the upper and lower were blurred, the upper and lower would become one unit: the ground extends to the roof/roof extends to the ground/ground and The roof is one step of a big step.

In one form that embraces the two completely different behaviors of “walking” and “sitting”, the building becomes a seat that can be walked and a staircase that can be sat on. The entire building and the surrounding site have also become a space “in-between” up and down, where people could enjoy the waiting time going up and down.

Meanwhile, people’s movement and stay make this space more dynamic. The tasteless space “under the stairs” disappeared, where there is a space under one dynamic roof. The transparent and openable curtain wall allows the view and space to extend to the vast lake. The overhanging eaves can block the noon sun in summer and let the warm sun in winter spill into the room.

The white box on the north side of the building contains all the auxiliary functions and pipelines. It also isolates the undesirable visual environment on the north side, creating a large and flexible space in the middle, affords programs such as ticket sales, exhibitions, pop-ups, forums, and even catering.