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Pier 32 Marina Wins Orchid In Annual Orchids & Onions Competition

Friday, 04 November 2011
Contact: John Gilmore (619) 686-7206

Port of San Diego tenant Pier 32 Marina in National City has been honored with an "Orchid" award in the annual Orchids & Onions design competition for its marina complex that one juror described as "magical."

The annual competition is sponsored by the San Diego Architectural Foundation, which has for the past 35 years recognized the best and worst in design. Pier 32 was among 14 projects that received an "Orchid."

Pier 32 is located at the entrance to the Sweetwater Channel, six miles from downtown San Diego. The judges said the marina "feels like an oasis amid a sea of container ships and industrial warehouses that dot South Bay.

"This bold, contemporary, yet warm maritime project embraces the new, but hints at the old," the jury said, with one juror praising the marina's "dynamic design, engaging angles and incredible sightlines."

The 250-slip marina opened in August 2008. It is the first marina in National City and the Port of San Diego's first new marina on San Diego Bay in 15 years. The Port District invested about $7.5 million in the creation of the 14-acre marina basin.

The marina was designed by architect Miller Hull. The "Orchid and Onion" judges said the project "creates the next node of how to experience San Diego Bay."

"Both the inside and outside are enticing and the structure serves as a bridge to the bike path and the harbor, appealing to outsiders in a comfortable and approachable way, yet still maintaining a level of sophistication," jurors said.

One juror noted, "the project is just magical, it hits all the right tones: use of materials, details, finishes and fenestration; this is clearly a 'maritime' pier, it is timeless, stunning."

The Port of San Diego was created by the state legislature in 1962 and is responsible for $1.7 billion in public improvements in its five member cities: Imperial Beach, San Diego, Coronado, Chula Vista and National City.

The Port oversees two maritime cargo terminals, two cruise ship terminals, 17 public parks, the Harbor Police Department and the leases of more than 600 tenant and sub tenant businesses around San Diego Bay.