Australian company exports design expertise
The recent rush of Chinese-backed development in Australia has created inroads for our firms to export their expertise to Asia, with Gold Coast based DBI Design securing a $3 billion project in Shantou.
The architecture firm has won the tender to masterplan and project manage the development of a new financial district in Shantou, 300 kilometres north-east of Hong Kong.
Billed as a new ‘micro city’ the project will include 10 commercial buildings, 16 apartment and residential towers, two hotels, a shopping centre, cultural precinct and marina.
Once complete, it is expected the new micro city will house more than 7,000 permanent residents, accommodate more than 2,000 tourists and support a working population of more than 22,000.
The new community, which is being developed on the 68-hectare site of an abandoned theme park, will be known as the Shantou Overseas Financial Centre.
DBI Design director Raith Anderson says Shantou Overseas Financial Centre follows on from the firm’s work on the $1.5 billion Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi, which was completed in 2012.
Shantou Overseas Financial Centre is one of the Guangdong region’s largest urban renewal projects on reclaimed land, and will take about eight years to develop.
“This clearly shows that it is a two-way street in terms of Australian-Chinese property development. While we have seen a lot of Chinese-led projects in Australia recently, the Chinese are very receptive to high quality design proposals from Australian firms,” he says.
“When it comes to large scale masterplanned projects like this, they are not just looking for economy of scale. They want a team that has a demonstrated ability to deliver a signature project, as China is increasingly moving away from design conformity and embracing creativity.
“It’s all about big picture thinking – creating a whole new space where people can live, work and play.”
Anderson says while the project is “branded” financial centre and the emphasis is on the two signature 380 metre high commercial and hotel towers, “it will be a new destination in its own right.”
The Shantou Overseas Financial Centre is being developed by JinFeng Group, a large Guangdong-based private enterprise headquartered in central Hong Kong.