The St. Regis Lhassa Resort, Lhassa, Tibet The St. Regis Lhassa Resort benefi ts from a unique location. Opposite Potala Palace, which is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, and close to Norbulingka, the former summer palace of the Dalai Lama, this luxury hotel complex sits amid a timeless landscape highly conducive to contempla- tion. The complex has a refi ned and sophisticated setting with very elegant accommodation and a backdrop of mountains. The resort was designed with a classic archi-
tectural style and traditional pagoda-shaped roofs. Dark grey zinc was chosen for the roofi ng because of its originality and because it can easily create the most singular forms. Architects also chose zinc because it is suitable for the city’s mountain- ous climate. Installed using the traditional Umicore Building Products-supplied VMZinc Parisian roll cap roofi ng technique, fl at lock capping adapted the roofi ng for the harsh climate. ANTHRA-ZINC from Umicore provided the surface aspect. This was the fi rst time the local installation
contractor worked with zinc, so training was provided by VMZINC’s local technical expert, who monitored the project throughout the work-site phase. It was an opportunity to pass on know-how and to share useful experiences for future projects.
Architect: Denniston International Architects & Planners Ltd., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia General contractor: China Construction Fifth Engineering Division Corp. Ltd., Changsha, China Metal roofi ng panels: Umicore Building Products USA Inc., Raleigh, N.C., www.vmzinc-us.com, Circle #47
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Photography by Marcel Lam September 2012 METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS 45 circle #25 on reader service card