David Rockwell Founder and CEO
Rockwell Group
Rockwell Group has recently partnered with AECOM to serve the leisure, hospitality and entertainment market in Asia. The collaboration begins with a series of villas for Yanxi Lake International Conference Complex in Beijing.
Why did you decide to set up an office in Shanghai? As the hospitality industry continues to grow in China, we are discovering more exciting opportunities to work on innovative design projects in the hotel and entertainment industry. With a large number of our existing client brands expanding in Asia, we thought it was crucial to bring a central location to Shanghai. We hope that this presence will expose us to new materials and techniques through talented business and design collaborators, local craftsman and artists who will contribute to our designs.
How do you feel partnering with AECOM will benefit Rockwell? We are excited to work with such respected architects and engineers to offer strategic and creative solutions for hospitality clients in the region. AECOM’s deep understanding of the local culture has earned them great success in Asia.
What is your experience of the market so far? The Chinese clients and potential clients require responses, information, and feedback at a more rapid pace than other regions. In business, most documentation from proposals to drawings needs to be bilingual – English and Mandarin.
How have you had to adapt to work in the region? Local culture is always an important element in each of our designs. For example, in Nobu Beijing we sought to incorporate design elements influenced by Chinese culture and natural materials, shapes and finishes. Our choice of palette, textures and materials in each project always reflects the specific location, context and identity of the brand or project we are working with. We want to celebrate the unique cultures and identities of Asia through architecture and design.
What advice would you give other international design firms wanting to work in China? China offers a great opportunity for architecture and design firms to expand into one of the fastest growing markets in the world. In a sea of professional architects vying for one hotel project, take creative risks. Stand out!
Andre Fu Founder
AFSO
Based in Hong Kong, Andre Fu has designed The Upper House in Hong Kong and The Fullerton Bay Hotel, Singapore. He is currently working on aspects of Jing An Shangri-La, Shanghai, and Four Seasons Resort, Suzhou.
What is your experience of working in China? I have been working in China since 2002. In short, it has been an overwhelming experience – seeing how the country as a whole has evolved in merely ten years. The acceptance of design is also escalating on an exponential curve and I am most pleased to see that there is a growing appreciation of things done in a bespoke and crafted manner.
You’ve worked internationally, are there any challenges in China that you don’t face elsewhere? In my view, every country or city is unique in its own ways – it boils down to whether the designer can overcome such challenges and turn them into possibilities. For example, China has a wealth of trained timber joiners, especially in Southern China. Their skills to craft might have been lost in the Western trades.
Being based in the region, what do you feel you can offer over international competition? I believe the understanding of Chinese customs is key to creating hospitality spaces in China. To be more specific, it could be regarded as an understanding of the way the Chinese culturally behave, a factor that inevitably has a big impact on the way designers conceptualise their designs. This understanding could trigger down to something very micro – even the way people interact and their perception of privacy. Being positioned in Hong Kong and with a team that is homegrown, I believe our forte would be in a better understanding of this.
What design trends are you seeing in China? I believe design trends will continue to evolve in multiple layers with the creation of products that cater to different sectors of the market. I foresee growing design awareness of hospitality concepts that cater to the mid- range market – what I would describe as a ‘premiere economy’ offering. There will equally be a demand for more personalised and high-end niche hotels. Design-wise, I hope to see designs that embody a sense of ‘modern Chinese luxury’.
Sleeper China 2012
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