Last week AN revealed Neil Denari’s winning scheme for the $140 million Keelung Harbor Service Project, a plan to redevelop the Taiwan city’s underexploited waterfront for arts, office, recreation, and industrial uses. Above and below is one of the impressive runners up, the scheme by  P-A-R (Platform for Architecture + Research) and Sériès et Sériès along with local architect Ricky Liu Associates. The project consisted of a cargo building, a 20-story office complex, and a three-story cruise ship terminal, all connected via a sloping, faceted landscape.

The shimmering glass office, which tapered sharply at points like a gem, was designed to reflect and frame the area. Its large opening would create a new public plaza and frame the axis between the land and the water. A large cantilever would provide views of the harbor and of the mountains beyond. The terminal, meant to provide open space for travelers and for the general public, would be topped and sided with a lush garden and punctured by three large atria. Its folded volumes would not only initiate a dialogue with passing ships but provide maximum exposure to daylight.

The other short-listed teams for the project were Asymptote (which lost by half a percentage point, according to one source), ACDF, from Canada; and Mecanoo Architecten, from the Netherlands. Click on a thumbnail below to launch the slideshow.