Royal Caribbean’s Giant New Cruise Ship Terminal at The Port is Officially A Go

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Miami-Dade County Commissioners have officially approved a deal with Royal Caribbean Cruises to build a new terminal capable of handling the world’s largest cruise ships at the Port of Miami. The vote was unanimous, reports TRD, and the architecturally dramatic, 170,000 square foot ‘Crown of Miami’ as Royal calls it is moving forward. Completion is expected by 2018.

Broadway Malyan Beat Out Zaha, Bjarke to Design Royal’s Gigantic New Terminal

Renderigs via The Next Miami.

Renderigs via The Next Miami.

Royal Caribbean’s gigantic new cruise ship terminal coming to PortMiami, which was announced last night, is the result of an international design competition in which five firms participated, including Zaha Hadid Architects and Bjarke Ingels. Back in March, Travel Weekly published short descriptions of each of the five proposals (H/T: The Next Miami). The other participating teams included Aedas, Asymptote Architects, and of course the winners, Broadway Malyan (renderings for which can be seen below and above).

This is how Travel Weekly described the other four designs:

  • Aedas – A giant, bright blue Transformers toy.
  • Bjarke Ingels Group – Inspired by Lincoln Road, with canopies stacked atop each other, along with a park and trees inside the terminal.
  • Zaha Hadid – “very futuristic,” with a concert hall inside.
  • Asymptote – draped with “a billion LED lights” for a different display every night.

The Next Miami quoted Royal Caribbean Cruises as saying, about the winning design:

The 170,000-square-foot terminal is nicknamed the ‘Crown of Miami’ because of its distinct shape. The design evokes the points of the symbolic headgear when viewed from the water; the ‘M’ of Miami when viewed from the east or western approaches; and a sense of waves rising or ships passing when viewed from the terminal side. At night, the terminal’s facade will be lit ensuring that the building makes a striking impression and providing a dynamic addition to the PortMiami landscape.