The Pier One Dishui Lake is located within the 80 meter green belt surrounding Dishui Lake in Lingang New Town, Shanghai. It is also adjacent to the Dishui Lake terminal station of Metro Line 16 and is an important node connecting Lingang New Town and the urban area of Shanghai. According to the overall plan, this will be a place for cruise ships to dock and tourists to board, and supporting buildings will be set up to provide services. Given its specific location and functional positioning, Pier One should not be just an embellishment building independent of the green belt surrounding the lake, but should strive to fully integrate the entire site into the waterfront environment and become a part of the lake landscape.
© FangFang Tian
The Pier One Dishui Lake project creatively adopts a landscape oriented architectural de-sign strategy, avoiding the separation of pier buildings and green landscapes caused by land use planning, allowing the pier buildings and landscapes to fully integrate, thus creating a waterfront space experience that transcends daily life while accommodating multiple func-tions and behavioral activities.
© FangFang Tian
The architecture of Pier One Dishui Lake combines the green belt landscape with the pier function through creative structural design. Different flow lines are arranged in a three-dimensional manner, changing the monotonous and impoverished atmosphere of the lake surrounding green belt and maintaining the continuity of the waterfront in terms of land-scape, public activities, and ecology.
© FangFang Tian
The new design plan for the Pier One Dishui Lake adopts a strategy which maximizes the intervention of public space systems and integrates the pier building and green landscape with a multi hole arc-shaped planting roof covering the site. It accommodates people’s waterfront leisure activities under a “cavity” with rich light and shadow, green trees, and spatial experience.
© FangFang Tian
The wide steps, platforms, tree pools, ramps, stairs, courtyards, etc. in the cavity constitute the rich spatial hierarchy of the building. At the same time, the greenery around the dock buildings and on the roof trusses is waiting to flourish, or to completely accommodate and conceal the building in green trees and light, while the public space system constructed by its spatial structure on the site will become the most important symbol of this building.
© FangFang Tian
The Pier One Dishui Lake has transformed transportation facilities into a distinctive public space, creating a unique waterfront environment for Dishui Lake, a new city located far from the center of Shanghai. With the help of this new type of landscape architecture, Pier One attempts to awaken people’s awareness of the value of the site and nurture ecological characteristics in nature. It has stimulated frequent daily activities and festive events within the venue, bringing sustainable vitality to this new city.
Project Info
Architects: TM Studio
Area: 15786 m²
Year: 2023
Country: Shanghai, China
Photographs: FangFang Tian
Manufacturers: Tushuo Industrial
Lead Architect: Tong Ming
Landscape Design: The IT Electronics Eleventh Design&Research Institute Scientific and Technological Engineer-ing Corporation Limited
Construction Contractor: Shanghai JASO Group Co., Ltd.
Design Team: Huang Xiaoying, Song Jiawei, Zhang Kewei, Ren Guang, Ren Guang, Guo Hongqu
Clients: Shanghai Harbour City Developrent(Group) Co., Ltd.
Structural & Mep: Shanghai Urban Architectural Desgin Co., Ltd.
Madeline Brooks is a Projects Editor at Arch2O, where she has been shaping and refining architectural content since March 2024. With over a decade of experience in editorial work, she has curated, revised, and published an array of projects covering architecture, urbanism, and public space design. A graduate of the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Madeline brings a strong academic foundation and a discerning editorial eye to each piece she oversees. Since joining Arch2O, she has played a pivotal role in shaping the platform’s editorial direction, with a focus on sustainability, social relevance, and cutting-edge design. Madeline excels at translating complex architectural ideas into clear, engaging stories that resonate with both industry professionals and general readers. She works closely with architects, designers, and global contributors to ensure every project is presented with clarity, depth, and compelling visual narrative. Her editorial leadership continues to elevate Arch2O’s role in global architectural dialogue.