The design for the Belgrade Danube Waterfront is focused around both landmarks and public spaces, designed to celebrate the waterfront experience. Francuska Street, which now provides a direct connection to Republican Place, Belgrade's city center, is extended to the Danube with a major public square marked by an iconic tower. Two new boulevards extend from Dunavska Street to a riverside promenade, which includes an urban beach, rock pools and piers that form this new public space. A continuous pedestrian and bike path links Dorçol Marina to the West to Pançevo Bridge and beyond to the East. The edge of the old harbor basin is transformed with walkways, buildings on the water and stepped seating. The neighborhoods around the harbor basin form a dense grid of streets and piazzas, creating a pedestrian network entirely new for Belgrade.

A 16 hectare linear park links the neighborhoods with each other and connects them to the waterfront. Like Central Park in New York, the park shapes a city destination including a variety of landscape features and public attractions. Each area of the park offers different themes and functions, which can be experienced separately or in sequence. Underpasses and overriding pedestrian bridges connect all sections of the park, providing a coherent environment.

Each neighborhood affords the visitor with a different experience. Neighborhoods vary in terms of the street pattern, relationship between the buildings to the open spaces, the differing height relationships between buildings and character of public space. Each neighborhood has a program that includes meeting places, landmark buildings and unique features that give it its own identity. Thus, a walk through this new part of the city will never be monotonous, but a stimulating and fulfilling experience.

The urban grid of the historical city is extended into the site, while the typical blocks are varied and transformed into more open patterns. At multiple points, the new is linked to the old. Streets and squares relate to the scale and proportion of the old city, while forming part of more contemporary spatial relationships. High density in the neighborhoods is balanced with the generous open spaces of the park and the waterfront. Therefore, the new development is experienced as an integral part of the inner city while adding new qualities and allowing for new experiences.

An iconic 250 meter tower is placed at the end of Francuska Street to mark a new destination on the waterfront. It can be seen from Republican Square and from a distance on the Danube. The shape of the tower suggests the two rivers, the Sava and the Danube, embracing the city of Belgrade like a jewel. It includes offices, a hotel and apartments as well as a public viewing platform. At the harbor basin, a cultural center is built re-using two existing concrete structures creating a symbolic gateway to the harbor.

All neighborhoods are designed for mixed use with meeting places that are filled with constant activity. The main roads are laid out as boulevards lined with shops, cafes and restaurants, while large and small paved and green piazzas offer further opportunities to meet. Each neighborhood has access to the central park, which provides places to relax and play. The waterfront promenade is a major public amenity and gathering place for all of Belgrade, but particularly for the adjacent neighborhoods. The extension of Francuska Street between the park and the new piazza on the Danube forms a central place where all can gather to see or be seen. 

Buildings of architectural merit that played important roles in the history of the port are being preserved as landmarks. By the introduction of new uses, they are transformed and integrated in the new context. The Metalac building is opened to create a corridor from the park to the harbor basin. Beneath the two cantilevering structures, a cultural center is built as a symbol of the transformation of the port. The two structures are integrated and infused with new uses.

The layout of the neighborhoods allows the Master Plan to be developed in phases. The neighborhoods themselves can be adjusted according to future requirements in terms of uses, size of plots and height of buildings. The extension of Francuska Street to the waterfront with a new neighborhood, a public space and a landmark on the Danube are conceived as a first phase for developing the site. Creating the first sequence of the park and integrating the Metalac building is seen as an essential part of this phase.