ABSTRACT
The design of the Keelung Harbor Project involved a broad collaboration among a variety of partners, but this discussion focuses on the association between Neil M. Denari Architects (NMDA), and Thornton Tomasetti (TT), beginning with the background of the firms. The NMDA-TT team developed the project for the Preliminary Design package for submission in April 2013. From that point, NMDA paired with executive architects Fei Cheng in Taiwan and Meinhardt in Shanghai to develop the bid documents in time for the September 2013 deadline. The changes in the scope of work prompted an adjustment to the bid schedule: the terminal and office buildings were separated into two different bid packages with the terminal slated first for construction. Adding to challenges of designing structure for the sculptural forms of the Keelung project, the site is noted for seismic activity which necessitates hefty bracing, and this became part of an architectural aesthetic that emphasizes diagonal vectors throughout the project.
