Construction has begun on the largest cruise terminal in North America. Located in Port Miami, and designed by Miami-based Arquitectonica, the MSC Cruises Terminal will be capable of hosting three cruise ships simultaneously as well as 36,000 daily passengers, upon its completion at the end of 2023.

The $350 million, 492,000-square-foot scheme adopts a long, thin footprint in response to site constraints, while a flowing form allows for embarking and debarking functions to be overlapped across four levels. The flowing roof profile is also visible in the terminal’s interior, accentuated by parallel lighting and supported by colonnades to gently divide the vast space.

“The design maximizes the limited footprint by creating a layered embark and debark experience, allowing both processes to overlap seamlessly,” said Arquitectonica in a statement. “The form of the building expresses this layering visually, highlighting the idea of vessels departing and arriving from Port Miami.”

The terminal is clad almost entirely in curtain glazing, contrasted by warm timber elements on the interior. ArquitectonicaGEO also served as the project’s landscape designers, incorporating a shaded, elevated entry plaza connecting the terminal to an adjacent 2,400-vehicle parking structure. The design team aims to achieve LEED Silver certification for the project, while also incorporating technological features including biometric screening more commonly found in airports.

News of the scheme comes weeks after Arquitectonica replaced Morphosis as designers of the former Viper Room redevelopment in West Hollywood. Several of the firm’s projects were also recently recognized among the 100 best buildings by American architects at the 2021 American Architecture Awards by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design.

Other major transportation projects recently featured on Archinect include MAD’s competition-winning design for the Chongqing Cuntan International Cruise Centre in China, CallisonRTKL’s biophilic airport at Guadalajara, Mexico, and the $2.1 billion LaGuardia AirTrain recently approved by the FAA.