Attractions Management understands that the award-winning design for China’s new National Maritime Museum, created by Australian practice Cox Rayner Architects, is now likely to be realised in 2017.

The project, located in the city of Tianjin, was originally set to open in 2015 but has suffered delays since it was named the Future Project of the Year at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in 2013.

A representative from Cox Rayner told Attractions Management that the museum will now be completed within two years.

The architects – who won an international competition to design the project – have visualised five shell-like structures radiating out towards the city’s port harbour. These halls, which converge into one central building, will house exhibits exploring China’s nature and oceans, maritime civilisation and historic vessels.

“The architecture is expressive and open to multiple interpretations,” said Cox Rayner in a statement. “The halls could represent an open hand, sea anemones, coral or vessels in the port. They are not obvious metaphors, but act as enticements for visitors to explore the multifaceted set of experiences within.”

The five structures will be fronted by a ‘maritime plaza’ where re-enactments and and open air events will be staged.

The design was praised by the WAF judges in 2013 for its conceptual clarity. They said the design evoked a strong sense of the maritime experience, brining together "vast collections of elements of China's rich maritime history and offering the visitor references to global maritime cultures". The panel added that they were looking forward to "a realisation that maintains the integrity of the original idea."

The museum complex will cover 80,000sq m (861,000sq ft) and is to be located on an area of park land. Construction cost is estimated at AUS$290m (US$212.3m, €195m, £140.3m) with the exhibition fit-out adding a further AUS$80m (US$58.5m, €53.7m, £38.7m) to the budget.

At this year’s WAF, which took place in Singapore, Bjarke Ingels Group won the Future Project of the Year award for their Vancouver House penthouse development in Canada.

Cox Rayner were again nominated in the category, this time for their design for a new cultural centre in the Australian city of Cairns.