A new gateway for thousands of international cruise liner passengers, the extension to the Ocean Terminal in Harbour City, Hong Kong has opened to the public. With stunning new outdoor spaces for dining and leisure capitalising on the unmatched panoramic views of the harbour, this new expansion will be the best place for visitors to immerse themselves in a unique waterfront experience, creating a new landmark for Hong Kong. The terminal has the distinct advantage of being located directly opposite Victoria Harbour, boasting unrivalled views of Hong Kong’s iconic skyline. Standing right on the water’s edge visitors have 270-degree views of the city, from the Kowloon Peninsula in the North East to Causeway Bay in the South East. This new public plaza – in the form of cascading terraces looking out towards the harbour – provides a new outdoor space for the people of Hong Kong and a distinctive gateway to the city for its visitors. The building embraces the city’s al-fresco dining culture, turning the undeveloped end of the cruise terminal into a vibrant entertainment hub right in the centre of the city harbour. Luke Fox, Head of Studio and Senior Executive Partner, said: “By introducing a new series of public spaces to the site, right down to the waterfront edge, we aim to create a ‘new living room’ for the people of Hong Kong and its visitors right in the heart of the city.” Architecturally, the form of the building is a direct response to its climatic context. Its wide cantilevered terraces shade the lower levels, protecting them from the harsh tropical sun. The balustrades, angled to tie in with the overall geometry of the building, extend downwards as louvred shading devices for the terrace below. The building also offers retail, dining and lounge facilities, with a stepped outdoor seating area from which to sit and enjoy the view. The steps feature glass risers that admit natural light deep into the internal atrium. The connection to the existing terminal is seamless, and the design introduces a new central diagonal circulation spine that connects the roof level to the marine deck, both physically and visually, via a series of escalators cascading down through the public spaces.

Architectural perfection: the cruise terminal in Hong Kong has been expanded and modernised with the addition of a 9,300 m² extension. The design by architect Sir Norman Foster, which takes its visual cues from the profile of a ship’s bow, is a floating structure that stretches out onto the water like a promontory. The shape of the building is designed to be reminiscent of the ships that come into the terminal while also being adapted to the tropical local climate. The wide, self-supporting terraces that surround the terminal on three sides and the additional inclined balustrade, which acts like a blind, keep each of the lower levels in shade. 

The entire facade of the four-storey new build is comprised of large windows. This allows visitors to Sir Norman Foster’s architectural masterpiece to experience the unique atmosphere of its locale even while inside the building itself. After all, the Ocean Terminal’s location right on Victoria Harbour is what makes it so special, offering as it does panoramic views of the harbour and the Hong Kong skyline. This unique interplay between inside and outside was realised using large sliding windows with slender profiles. The facade follows an alternating pattern whereby each sliding window is adjoined by a fixed glass element, resulting in an extension that comprises 100 separate panes of glass. 

Bespoke and one of a kind

Due to its floating structure, the building has a moving floor. This, coupled with the high wind loads it has to withstand in its exposed location, meant that a bespoke sliding window tailored to these unusual conditions was required. This is what led the owner, Client Harbour City Estates Limited, to get in touch with international company Solarlux. Thanks to a series of steel inserts, new profiles, and an additional carriage under the window mullion, the specialists in innovative glass fronts were able to adapt the large sliding elements – which reach up to 4.60 m in height and 2.40 m in width – to suit the unusual conditions of the building’s location. All the cero elements can withstand wind loads of up to 3,500 pascals – equivalent to a wind speed of around 270 km/h. This has been validated by both Solarlux’s in-house testing lab and an independent test institute in China. As a result, the sliding window is the perfect solution for Hong Kong’s Ocean Terminal. The building even has one glass element that is over nine metres wide. This structural masterpiece has thus far only been produced for the Ocean Terminal, making it one of a kind.