Client
Shui On Land
By Jen Lin-Liu

Shui On Land had plenty of detractors when it hired architect Benjamin Wood to design an unusual wine-and-dine retail-and-entertainment complex in the heart of Shanghai. Critics doubted the wisdom of building at a low floor-to-area ratio, converting dilapidated residences into retail shops, and creating restaurants with outdoor dining. But since Xintiandi (photos, right top) opened in 2000, it has become a Shanghai landmark and China’s most-copied and most-talked about new project.

“Xintiandi shows Chinese developers that traditional buildings can have economic value in addition to social and aesthetic ones,” says Albert K.B. Chan, Shui On’s director of planning and development. “Xintiandi demonstrates that local architecture can be stylish and trendy.” Xintiandi’s architect has plenty of words of praise for his client and calls Shui On CEO and Chairman Vincent H.S. Lo “a visionary.”

Lo himself, along with a team of trusted advisors, provides a good chunk of design input. As mandated by Lo, Shui On’s projects are “pedestrian-friendly, multi-use, vibrant urban communities.”

Shui On rightly anticipated that Xintiandi would raise property values in the area. While developing Xintiandi, the developer retained Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to master plan the surrounding 52-hectare area called Taipingqiao. It also hired Kohn Pederson Fox and Palmer & Turner to design the area’s office buildings, some of which will be in the art deco style of 1930’s Shanghai.

Another Xintiandi-style complex called Xihutiandi (rendering, far right, top) made its debut in Hangzhou recently. Designed by Wood and landscape architect Dwight Law, the project encompasses 10 blocks of traditional Hangzhou architecture transformed into a leisure and lifestyle destination next to the famous West Lake.

Also underway is the Knowledge and Innovation Community (images, bottom left and right) in northern Shanghai that is designed by Palmer & Turner and will include a hub of offices for high-tech companies and live-work lofts. A sports complex and a renovated stadium will also be part of the KIC, which will be completed in 2010.

Creative architecture is “very important to our business strategy,” says Chan. In China, where clients usually emphasize cost and are only beginning to see the value of architecture, developers like Shui On are still rare. “We believe [architecture] will help us differentiate ourselves from our competitors,” explains Chan.

When hiring design consultants, Shui On looks for innovation, consistent quality, and sensitivity to local needs and culture. “We are increasingly insistent on the requirement that our consultants have an office in Shanghai, or at least in China,” says Chan. “Having an office here shows their commitment [to China]. When consultants are thinking about serving China for the long haul, they are more likely to produce quality work.”