By the end of the Second World War in Europe, London was devastated.  Great swathes of the city lay in ruins and the country was impoverished by five years of warfare.  There was much to be done.

London’s Tower Bridge

One task, of course, was rebuilding.  This raised many questions, not least what to keep and what to replace.  This scenario was (is) the root of the UK’s approach to historical buildings.  An early step was to make a list, nationwide, of all buildings that were of interest, and so the idea of “listed buildings” was born, and it is a term that applies to this day.  Listed buildings are protected by law, and any material change requires statutory consent, in addition to planning permission.  In the ensuing years, mistakes in planning and technique occurred and legislation and knowledge-sharing followed and with it the current idea of conservation evolved.  It wasn’t until the late 1960’s that the first legislation that protected “listed buildings” was enacted.  (Before this time, there was the Ancient Monuments Act, 1882 but this applied only to castles, ancient ruins etc) and later still the acknowledgement of the spaces between buildings – “conservation areas”.

These dates show that conservation as we understand it today, in the UK at least, is a modern phenomenon.

Wind forward a generation or so to the first decade of this century and to Hong Kong, still in the reflected glow of independence from Britain, which was beginning to think about its own heritage, albeit much of it colonial.  The Chief Executive’s address of 2007 set the scene for a concerted effort toward recognising Hong Kong’s built heritage.  There then followed legislation – the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance [1976] and more recently the Conservation and Revitalisation Scheme, whereby Government-owned historical buildings that are redundant are put up for non-commercial organisations to adapt to suit new uses (“adaptive re-use”).

A few years later, in 2006, the (now former) Central Police Station is de-commissioned – a site of some …acres in Central becomes redundant, but what to do with it?  It had already been made a Declared Monument (three in fact, an acknowledgement of the individual and group value of the buildings on the site) and was therefore protected by law. After some deliberation, Government agreed on a joint venture with the Hong Kong Jockey Club to revitalise the site by renovating the historical buildings and to turn them, together with the construction of two new buildings, into an arts hub that would complement the arts activity already going on around Central.

I’ve been impressed at the interest that young people especially have shown in heritage during my time in Hong Kong and I’ve asked them what interests them about it, particularly as much of it represents British occupation.  Their replies have been remarkably consistent and refreshing: yes, it may be “British” but its part of our experience and therefore part of our identity.  For these reasons it matters.

So far so good, but conservation in Hong Kong has not been all plain sailing.  The adaptive re-use of the former Marine Police Headquarters at Tsim Sha Tsui, now known as 1881 Heritage, was not without controversy, and in an article published by SCMP in 2011 A Change of Plan I said it was a “milestone along the way”.  The key point is that the building survives when in former times it would have been swept away and all traces lost.

There is much more to do.  Its not enough simply to restore an old building – questions relating to sustainability – is the current or new use going to survive long term?; knowledge and understanding – are those involved in conservation properly trained to make the right decisions?; supply chain management – are the appropriate materials available at reasonable cost?; and the spaces between historical buildings – (what may be designated conservation areas in the UK) do these warrant protection? All these are works in progress.  On this last point, the Hong Kong Government has acknowledged this, for example, the recognition of the former Central Government Offices to form a new “legal hub” is a step in the right direction.  Developers can gain from this too, and for the public good: by assembling parcels of land/buildings made up of two or more Lots, there is an opportunity to achieve two things: to redundant buildings to beneficial use, and to reinvigorate a neighbourhood.  Perhaps the best example is Covent Garden in London.  Originally a small C17 fruit and vegetable market, it fell into decline and by the C18 it was a red-light district.  By the mid-C20 traffic was a major headache and in 1974 the fruit market moved to another site.  But some imaginative thinking about new uses and a well-informed management regime has turned into a major attraction for visitors and locals alike and today it is thriving.  And some fine buildings have been preserved.  Done well, everyone stands to benefit.

Expo Asia 2014 ,the preeminent exhibition for green-tech business in Asia was showcase a wide spectrum of innovative green products and solutions.

The fair’s international environment was further bolstered by 10,817 visitors from 89 countries and regions. Visitors targeting location-specific exhibitors took advantage of various pavilions to streamline sourcing. Clustered by country, returning pavilions included Canada, Japan, Russia and Switzerland, as well as Chinese mainland pavilions for Foshan, Guangdong, Guangzhou, Macau and Shenzhen. Sweden made its debut participation, along with the Netherlands and Korea pavilions. Officiating the 2014 opening ceremony was Mr Wong Kam-sing, Secretary for the Environment of the HKSAR.

For the first time ever in Hong Kong, the new BMW i3 electric car was available for test rides and drives. Mr. Hugo Lui, Product Genius at BMW Concessionaries (HK) Ltd, said: “Electric cars are a major trend in the automotive industry and this platform will advocate initiatives to develop cars that are more environmentally friendly. The promotion results from the show have exceeded our expectations.” Quality Exhibitors and Trade Buyers from Across the Globe Hong Kong International Building and Hardware Fair 2014 was held at the same time at AsiaWorld-Expo.

The 9th edition of the fair presented a good mix of quality exhibitors and buyers from around the world. Apart from being a sourcing platform, the fair also served as an information hub to provide the latest trends, industry knowledge and market intelligence to both exhibitors and buyers. The building and construction industry in Hong Kong has been growing solidly in recent years. Hong Kong’s export of building materials, including hardware, increased nearly 3 per cent to US$12 billion in the first eight months of this year over the same period in 2013. The top five export markets were the Chinese mainland, the United States, Japan, Germany and South Korea. The event once again rode on the city’s competitive edge of being China’s gateway to the world and offered countless opportunities for international buyers to source from quality suppliers in the Chinese mainland.

To address the global trend of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the building and construction industry, BIM Day was co-organised with Construction Industry Council on the first day of the Fair with a full-day programme comprising an Exhibitors’ Forum for BIM-related exhibitors and the high-profile HKIBIM-CIC Conference 2014 organised by the Hong Kong Institute of Building Information Modelling.

This year marks the 10th edition of Eco Expo Asia and the Hong Kong International Building and Hardware Fair. This milestone event will be held from 28 – 31 October 2015 at AsiaWorld-Expo again. For more information, please visit www.ecoexpoasia.com and http://www.hktdc.com/fair/hkbdh-en/

The Hong Kong Concrete Repair and Waterproofing Association’s awards have been run and won, with the top award going to Milestone Builder Engineering Ltd.

The company undertook a painstaking overhaul of the main roof at St Stephen’s Girls’ College – a government-declared monument in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels.

With the engineers given just 45 days and vehicular access to the 1906-era building severely limited, the judging panel were impressed with the quality of the work and the ability to deliver the finished product in such a compressed timeframe.

The details of each of the four winners of this year’s awards are:

* Best in Concrete Repair and Waterproofing

Milestone Builder Engineering Ltd – St Stephen’s Girls’ College

* Best in Waterproofing and Technical Innovation

Fullion Waterproofing and Maintenance Co Ltd – 13 Dianthus Road, Kowloon Tong

* Best in Structural Concrete Repair and Waterproofing

Nga Luen Construction and Engineering Co Ltd – Unit B, Ground Floor, Block A, Marvel Industrial Building, Kwai Chung

* Best Presentation in Concrete Repair and Waterproofing

Marvel Harvest Ltd – Poksmith Villa, Pokfield Road, Kennedy Town

Overhauling and waterproofing the 2,700-sqm roof of a 100-year-old heritage-listed building presents a set of complex job specifications. But when that structure is a much-loved school that can only be accessed during a holiday break, and located in a narrow Hong Kong street that snakes through an upmarket residential area, it’s one of Hong Kong’s best restorations.

The project to restore the roof of St Stephen’s Girls’ College was the winner of the grand prize at this year’s Hong Kong Concrete Repair and Waterproofing Association awards and dinner, held last month (EDS: October) at the Royal Plaza Hotel in Kowloon.

The winning contractor, Milestone Builder Engineering Ltd, conducted an investigation of the pitched roof, with its ornate Chinese tiles, its supporting structure and drainage, before applying a liquid waterproofing solution.

The judging panel said Milestone took an extraordinary degree of care with the work, highlighting deft touches that included wrapping the scaffolding in protective padding.

Name Change

Founded in 1986, the HKCRWA is a growing collection of companies brought together by the shared desire to provide Hong Kong with professional and quality concrete repair and waterproofing services. In addition to dozens of local members, the association also has relationships with similar organisations in Britain and the United States.

This year’s awards were particularly significant for the association. The event was the first since the former Hong Kong Concrete Repair Association added “Waterproofing” to its name. The decision was made by a unanimous vote at last year’s annual general meeting.

“For many of our members the inclusion of waterproofing, in their daily activities is synonymous with concrete repairs,” association chairman Brian Clements, the managing director of Ronacrete (Far East) Ltd, told the awards dinner. “At our Annual General Meeting at the end of 2013, there was a unanimous vote of all members to change our association’s name to encompass waterproofing.”

The association’s name change is accompanied by a new logo. A blue water drop was added around the original maroon “drill head” design.

Extra Mile

Working on a historic site adds an extra wrinkle to an already exacting task, but Milestone was up to the challenge when the company was contracted to work on the St Stephen’s job.

Milestone had to be careful. In removing vegetation that had grown into the structure and waterproofing the roof, the company went so far as to wrap the ends of bamboo poles in order to minimise the potential damage Hong Kong’s iconic bamboo scaffolding could have on the school.

Milestone’s engineers had to work in less than ideal conditions. The site has no vehicular access and all the necessary materials and equipment had to be carted in. Complicating matters was the fact that the college’s traditional Chinese-tiled roof is steeply pitched and occasional rain slowed work during the short period of time Milestone could work on site.

Aesthetic Improvements

Concrete repair and waterproofing can be more than just functional. It can also involve improving a structure’s aesthetics, as Fullion Waterproofing and Maintenance Co Ltd demonstrated in their work on the roof of a residential building in Kowloon Tong.

Although the original roof had been repaired multiple times, water was still leaking into the structure below. Fullion’s inspection showed that the original waterproof membrane was badly degraded from exposure to sunlight and that water was seeping through despite the many layers of repairs.

Fullion’s solution was to tear up much of the roof’s surface and replace it with a rapidly curing pure polyurea that provides superior waterproofing performance. And, as a finishing touch, they gave the roof a brand new surface made of brick tiles, a vast improvement from the original dull and cracked waterproof membrane that the building’s residents had to live with.

The company’s work won them the award for Best in Waterproofing and Technical Innovation.

Structurally Sound

In the structural concrete repair and waterproofing category, award-winner Nga Luen Construction and Engineering Co Ltd faced a delicate task when they worked on an industrial building in Kwai Chung.

While most of the structure was sound, one of the building’s exterior reinforced concrete walls was severely deformed. It bulged outwards towards the street and the damage was so severe that the windows installed into the wall were visibly tilting.

Nga Luen demolished the damaged wall while preserving the rest of the structure around it before rebuilding the wall with stronger reinforcements in order to prevent similar deformations.

In the evening’s fourth awards category – best presentation in concrete repair and waterproofing – Marvel Harvest Ltd was once again in the winner’s circle. The company’s high-standards means Marvel is a regular award winner, including in 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2012.

This year, their work in repairing and waterproofing the roof of a residential building in Kennedy Town was recognised.

The work was extensive, with Marvel dealing with 75 distinct locations around the building’s roof and water tanks in order to prevent water from further seeping into the building’s structure and causing further damage. Severely damaged portions of the building were cut out and replaced, while minor damage was simply patched up before the roof was given a new tiled surface.

When investment professionals, developers and the elite from the property industry services sector gathered at the Grand Hyatt in Hong for two days in December it became clear that three major issues would dominate the talking points at MIPIM 2014. With Chinese insurers freshly allowed to invest up to 30 percent of their assets overseas, e-commerce exerting its retailing dominance and a snap election in Japan mere days away at the time (Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democrats easily won another four-year term on December 14th) the programme reflected the chatter.

Japan

In addition to the expected presence of architects, construction firms, asset managers and developers from across Asia, Japan’s newly embraced internationalism was in the spotlight. If the participation of Takenaka Corporation, Calzedonia Japan, GE Capital Real Estate, Deka Real Estate and Kume Sekkei weren’t enough, a keynote address by vice-minister of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Kisaburo Ishii declared Japan’s intent to welcome more foreign investment and exploit Abenomics to its maximum potential.

“We like Japan. At least for the near future, the next 12 to 18 months, liquidity is going to drive that market,” said Kenneth Gaw, president and managing principal of Gaw Capital Partners at MIPIM’s closing panel. Gaw was not alone. According to research by Jones Lang LaSalle, super-city Tokyo is the world’s largest urban economy and is currently the world’s largest commercial real estate market. Following Ishii’s address, the topic also turned whether or not Japanese investors were ready to start exploring overseas markets. That question will be more fully explored in 2015: Part of the Japanese presence was designed to bring exposure to the newly launched MIPIM Japan. The inaugural event pivoting on the 2020 Olympics, inbound investment and key cities is set for May 20 and 21 in Tokyo and is just another sign of Japan’s rising prominence on international investment radar.

Asian Investment Spike

Unlike Japan, China has been investment news for many years, but with the regulatory changes set down by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission allowing Mainland insurers to increase their overseas investment portfolios, Chinese capital flooding world markets is front and centre. New data from Knight Frank found Chinese outbound investment rose from US$600 million in 2009 to an estimated US$15 billion in 2014 — and that number is likely to rise substantially. As exciting as the China market is, there was also caution. Oversupply, tight cash flow and a softening economy were among the trouble spots developers and investors are keeping an eye on in the near future. “No question about it, there will be slower growth. But the central government is in control of many parts of the economy and they will have a cushioned landing,” said Gaw. “They’ll put a floor on any kind of slowdown. You’re seeing that now with the relaxation of purchasing restrictions and liquidity injections into the market.”

Fook Aun Chew, deputy chair of Lai Sun Group, added, “2015 is going to be about bargain hunting in China. A lot of developers are still tight on cash flow and so they have to offload some properties or land bank holdings. Those that have acquired land relatively cheaply may have to sell office buildings, shopping malls and developments.”

But it wasn’t all about China’s outbound strategy and other players — chiefly from Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia — dabbling in overseas markets. Asia-Pacific as a region was in the spotlight as the destination of choice for global institutional investors and funds as a whole. There was a lot of talk about returns to Vietnam after years of inflation and currency problems and Vina Capital Managing Director Jonathan Campbell debated core versus emerging markets as the darlings of Asian investment on the Inbound Investment in Asia panel. Overall, the region is finally getting some attention. “In 2015 we’ll start to see a change toward real estate and Asia. There’s the great Asia [capital] outbound story right now, but also cross-border,” theorised Andrew Weir, global chair, real estate and construction for KPMG in relation to Asia property’s relatively underweighted presence in global portfolios.  “It’s increasingly about niche real estate funds, capital players, pension funds and sovereign wealth funds. I think there will be a hunt for platforms in Asia. There’s a lot of capital begin deployed towards Asia but a relative shortage of investable supply.”

The Changing Face of Retail

The big news was from the turbulent retail sector. The issues covered at MIPIM, both formally and casually, ranged from new mall design, keeping malls relevant in the shadow of those new designs, the changing role of the shopping centre, logistics, consumer behaviour and luxury versus fast fashion among others. First and foremost was the impact of e-retailing. “No double e-commerce is taking business away from retailers. That said there are some areas of the retail sector that are less affected by e-commerce,” said Ronnie Chan, chair Hang Lung Properties at his opening keynote address. “But we have to think about what to do about it. We went and talked to some of the biggest owners in the West and not one knows what the answer is.”

Hsin Chong Construction Group chair and CEO Wilfred Wong agreed, noting the rise of e-commerce has put traditional retailers into “disarray.” The days of guaranteed brands taking up mall space are over. “Unless you have a really good theme it’s very difficult to operate these days. But [malls] are a good asset class if you do it well … Where the market is mature there is always a following.” MIPIM spent a great deal of time and energy analysing how to engage with consumers, “retailtainment” and how to exploit technology.

For Hang Lung’s Chan, the challenges facing the retail sector are not insurmountable, as long the end-user is kept in mind — the shopper, not the shop or mall tenant. Chan likes to believe Hang Lung gets repeat shoppers because of the developer’s attention to creating an experience-based service. “Overall I think shopping centres are a very good business,” says Chan. “I know people have said shopping malls are a thing of the past. I say think twice. When computers came out they said the paper industry would be history … People are still social animals. Would you like to watch your TV screen of a beautiful woman having coffee, or would you like to be at Starbucks watching a lady right next to you?”

The alchemy of turning gloomy industrial buildings into gleaming commercial spaces places Pamfleet in rare company.

Hasbro, Michael Bay and Marvel Comics managed to convince children and filmgoers that giant robots could change into trucks and other vehicles in the Transformers franchise. In Hong Kong’s property development scene, it’s proving almost as fantastical to pull off a different kind of transformation – reprovisioning buildings from industrial stock to other commercial uses.

But a telling moment could be drawing near as real estate development firm Pamfleet Property Asset Management and Investment is close to lifting the veil on what has been a challenging project. For the KOHO – short for Kowloon Head Office – overhaul, the company was tasked with converting a 35-year-old factory block into a modern office block.

While the government has advocated wholesale conversion of industrial property for residential and office use for more than a decade, building owners and developers have been slow to act. Among other potential complications, the private sector has been wary of the red tape that can be involved.

Sunrise industry

Manufacturing had long been in decline and most factories had relocated to the mainland years earlier by the start of this century. A government decision to rezone vacant, defunct or underused industrial stock made more than 1,000 buildings potentially available for refurbishment, renovation and possible conversion into hotel, retail or office spaces.

By 2009, just three dozen buildings had been lease-modified to cater for the change of use – and just three of those were readied for wholesale conversion.

As a result of the poor take-up the government introduced measures to encourage more quality wholesale conversion projects. These measures included loosening some code requirements and dropping so-called “waiver fees” on wholesale conversions.

In response, some owners and developers have tried to get the revitalisation bandwagon rolling – but not many. Lands Department figures from August show that of 121 applications for wholesale conversion, 66 had been approved.

That’s why the Pamfleet KOHO project could be pivotal for the industry, especially considering the firm’s expertise with reconfiguring and rebranding properties.

If Pamfleet, contractor IBI, engineer Mott MacDonald and lift contractor Schindler get it right, they will have gained a jump on the field in what could be a lucrative market sector for years to come.

Specialist task

KOHO is really in Pamfleet’s wheelhouse, representing as it does a scaled-up version of the company’s usual business model – identifying underperforming assets and repositioning them to add value. The 13-storey KOHO has a GFA of 239,940 square feet and the construction cost of the job is about HK$170 million.

Pamfleet, which has offices in Hong Kong and Singapore, was formed in 2000 as a management buyout of Jardine Fleming’s direct property fund management business. It has built its reputation in the office, retail and residential sectors. In 14 years, Pamfleet has asset managed more than 353,000 square metres of properties worth more than US$1 billion. As well as repositioning and rebranding properties, Pamfleet also provides real estate asset management and investment advisory services across the Asia-Pacific region. It has only carried out two wholesale conversions before.

“We acquire under-performing buildings that have significant value enhancement potential,” said Pamfleet Head of Project Management, Flora Tong. “Re-provisioning of an asset is quicker to deliver back to the market relative to redevelopment, and it is a more affordable approach, better balance of risk and return. Also refurbishment is more environmental friendly and sustainable.”

Location innovation

The chances of success in this instance must be helped by the location. The building in the heart of Kwun Tong is perfectly located in rapidly modernising Kowloon East.

The government has declared it wants to turn Kowloon East into another Central Business District, called CBD2, and KOHO could become a leading destination. It goes part-way to explaining why Pamfleet and its partners have taken the gamble. It claims East Kowloon is one of Hong Kong’s up-and-coming areas.

The benefits for building owners of a reprovisioning are clear if you consider the much higher rental that commercial properties fetch compared to industrial buildings such as factories or warehouses. But to get to that happy situation, there are many hoops that must be jumped through.

Among the bureaucratic hurdles are time-consuming dealings with Lands, Traffic, Highway and Buildings departments, to name a few. The formidable list of work and design demands that Pamfleet faced for this project included the need to create: new office lobbies; a main office lobby at the ground floor; reception counters at each office lobby; direct access from the car park to both office lobbies; new lifts, including three passenger lifts serving all floors and two exclusive passenger lifts serving the ground floor to the 3rd-floor podium; a window wall; new air-conditioning system; a centralised chilled water system; new fire services that were brought up to code for commercial use; car parking and vehicle loading spaces; glazing with high-performance reflective coating; and acoustic and thermal insulated panels.

Role reversal

It’s a comprehensive transformation requiring major commitments of skill, work and investment. And Pamfleet has had to enact the changes while also staying fair of legal requirements.

For example, the change of code for commercial use demands there must be more fire escape staircases, more windows, washrooms and plant rooms on each floor for air conditioning and other services. But the rules forbid building of additional floors above the existing top floor or between floors.

“Basically we have replaced or upgraded all the services in the building,” says Tong. “There was no air-conditioning system before as it was an industrial building.”

Old industrial buildings are considered minimalist when it comes to utilities provision, but commercial spaces – which could host thousands of office or retail workers, not to mention members of the public, on any given day – have many more obligations to meet.

The Buildings and Lands departments allow for rooftop structures to house machine rooms, air-conditioning units, water tanks and stairhoods, as long those structures do not occupy more than half of the roof area. The space can be excluded from counting towards the allowable gross floor area. However, as technical specifications have ballooned over time, machinery and water tanks have grown in size and loading, introducing quite a test for designers and engineers to squeeze these essential items into the space.

Test of time

Often a developer undertaking a conversion project can be given exemptions or offered relaxations of the commercial building requirements.

In the case of Pamfleet and KOHO for instance, the natural lighting and ventilation stipulations could be loosened with the Buildings Department approval, provided that artificial light and mechanical ventilation can achieve 40 percent of the performance target for energy use and indoor environmental quality.

The metric here was the BEAM (Building Environmental Assessment Method) Plus Certification. Achieving that standard is another investment of effort and expense, with the added handicap of time spent waiting on the wheels of government agencies to grind.

Then there’s the issue of car parking, a perennial problem in congested Hong Kong. As a rule, commercial buildings typically have four times as many spaces as industrial buildings. Unless an underground carpark is built, spaces count toward the allowed gross floor area of a commercial project. There are 20 car parking spaces in KOHO.

“Carpark provision is the biggest concern since retail carpark requirements are higher than for commercial,” says Tong. “You don’t want to sacrifice too much rental space for carpark.”

A kind of magic

It’s quite the conjuring trick to obey all the restrictions while honouring the ambition of reconfiguring an old goose into a new duckling. In the reimagining of KOHO for example, dour loading bays will be unrecognisable when reconfigured as gleaming, airy lobby spaces.

For societies that are serious about becoming sustainable, reprovisioning of building stock has several preferential characteristics to the alternative of complete demolition and redevelopment. It can be less expensive, quicker and far less environmentally damaging.

And that’s not to mention the benefits to the wider community. Revitalisation of dormant, unsightly industrial buildings, replacing them with commercial blocks that let out space to small-to-medium sized enterprises, should help to create job opportunities and increase competitiveness, which is all good for Hong Kong in the long run. Plus, there is the snowball or copycat effect whereby one or two successful instances of building-use conversion lead the way for many to follow, transforming a whole area from a sad reminder of the past to a bright symbol of a new economy.

Pamfleet has a track record that includes prominent properties, such as the Nexxus Building (formerly the Hang Seng Building), Vicwood Plaza, Kowloon City Plaza and 69 Yee Wo Street in Hong Kong.

Each project has involved a facelift or redesign. But nothing as compared to the total overhaul of KOHO that is now nearing completion and could kick-start the reinvigoration of Kowloon East.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill are a leading architectural practice with high-profile projects at the World Trade Centre site, and a haul of five MIPIM Asia Awards medals.

When One World Trade Centre opened in November it was a towering moment for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, but the signature skyscraper on the Manhattan skyline is just one of many glistening achievements in the company’s enviable portfolio, including several award-winning structures in Asia. Here in two parts we look first at the practice’s blazing Asian trail and its New York showpiece.

At the MIPIM Asia Awards in December, the name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill rang out more often than most. The American architects’ representatives at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Hong Kong collected two golds and three silvers at the gala dinner. The annual event recognises excellence and innovation in real estate development across the Asia-Pacific region. In the latest edition it featured 11 categories, each honouring achievers in Olympic-style gold, silver and bronze levels of attainment. Skidmore earned its golds for projects in Indonesia and in China.

The Pertamina Energy Tower in Jakarta gleaned its gong in the Best Future Mega Project category, beating out another Jakarta development, the Pluit City Jakarta Master Plan, in the eyes of the 17-person jury of industry notables.

Pertamina Energy Tower is the centrepiece of a new consolidated headquarters for the Indonesian state-owned energy company. Due for completion in 2020 it will stand at 500 metres and be a grand landmark in the capital city. The 99-storey tower will be complemented by a performing arts and exhibition pavilion, a mosque and central energy plant. It is believed that the sustainable strategies at the core of the tower’s design make it the world’s first super tall tower for which energy is the primary design driver.

Pertamina Energy Tower, Jakarta, Indonesia

Energy aware

The building gently tapers towards a rounded top, opening up at the crown where a wind funnel will make use of the prevailing winds to generate energy. Its curved façade is precisely calibrated to mitigate solar heat gain, which will have the double effect of making conditions more comfortable for occupants and of storing energy. Exterior sun shades will improve the workplace environment and save on lighting. Overall, the development is targeting zero net energy.

Located in the Rasuna Epicentrum neighbourhood, the campus will serve as a model of sustainability and efficiency. A covered walkway called the “Energy Ribbon” will link all parts of the campus while providing sun and rain protection and also generating energy through a photovoltaic system on its roof.

The runner-up to the Pertina project, the Pluit City Master Plan, is for two new islands on 450 hectares of reclaimed land, northeast of Jakarta, the first phase of an a chipelago city district in Jakarta Bay. It will offer an affordable solution to the housing needs of a swelling population as well as constituting a sea defence against storm surges.

The practice’s other gold medal-winning entry at the MIPIM Asia Awards was in the mainland. The Wuhan Jiang’an Riverfront Business District master plan stepped to the top of the podium in the Best Chinese Futura Project category.

Towering achievement

Situated on a former railway yard and factory site in this city along the Yangtze River, the development’s landmark building – dubbed the Erqi or 2-7 Tower – should be completed before 2023 to coincide with the centenary of a railway workers’ uprising, a watershed moment in modern China’s history and part of the sequence of events that led to the Civil War. The development will incorporate other industrial heritage and historic monuments.

Kunming Junfa Dongfeng Square, Kunming, China

The practice also earned success with the China Merchants Tower and Woods park project in Shenzhen. This won a silver classification in the Best Office and Business Development category. Located in the Nanshan district of Shenzhen it sits on a 150,000-sqm site and provides 103,000 sqm of new office and select retail space.

It comprises two distinct zones. One is the China Merchants Tower Zone which consists of the 38-storey, 225-m high office tower and a three-storey restaurant podium that constitutes a commercial space. Then there’s the Woods park zone, comprising three 211m tall residential towers and a threestorey clubhouse podium. Extensive landscaping creates usable spaces between the buildings and fosters human scale.

The China Merchants Tower features a low-energy, unitised glass curtain wall, clad in a system of horizontal glass fins and vertical aluminium struts. The close-spacing of the fins reduces solar gain. The fins refract light at night and work in conjunction with the top of the tower – its signature element – to illuminate the form, making it a beacon across Shenzhen. The design of the China Merchants tower responds architecturally to the environmental conditions of the site, in particular the heavy wind loads in the region due to the tropical cyclones driven from the South China Sea.

The tower is chamfered at its corners, with additional vertical notches for balconies included on all four facades and a parapet screen partially-porous to wind flow at roof level, all of which significantly reduce wind phenomena and vortices common around more orthogonal super tall towers. The tower also includes a signature lighting design allowing the tower to act as a beacon across Shenzhen.

Fresh views

The practice’s other award recipient was the Kunming Junfa Dongfeng Square project which earned silver in the Best Chinese Futura Mega Project category. The mixed-use development consists of a 456-metre office and hotel tower and a 250-metre residential tower in the heart of the capital city of Yunnan province. The project, initiated by the Kunming government, is intended to become a new icon for the city.

With that brief in mind, the design takes full advantage of the site’s dramatic location at the heart of the city, a burgeoning metropolis, and optimises the site’s prevailing views, predominant wind direction, and environmental performance factors. The main tower integrates natural ventilation for its offices through level 75, capitalising on the city’s mild climate.

Chimneys placed in each corner of the tower act as lungs, exhausting fresh air brought in at the perimeter. This buoyancy driven airflow removes heat generated by office occupant loads and solar gains to provide year-round free cooling. From the tower there are unobstructed views to a variety of points throughout the ceremonial north plaza.

Monumental work

It must be the most conspicuous, prestigious and controversial architecture assignment in modern memory. How to adequately fill the gaping hole – literal and emotional – left by the September 11 attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Centre in Manhattan?

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill took on the emotionally charged brief and their response, One World Trade Centre, is complete in all its glory.

Where there used to be two, now there is just one tower but it stands out majestically, the tallest building in America, the tallest in the western hemisphere and the fourth tallest in the world.

After more than 10 years since the cornerstone was laid, the building was complete and replaced the Empire State Building as the highest in New York City. All told, it replaces almost one quarter of the space lost when its predecessorswere destroyed. Its estimated cost as of April 2012 was US$3.9 billion (HK$30.25 billion), which made it the most expensive single building in the world at the time.

One WTC’s 104-storey structure tops out at 541.2 metres and boasts a simplicity and clarity of form that its creators believe will be timeless. The architects say they found a design solution that is an innovative mix of architecture, structure, urban design, safety and sustainability.

One World Trade Center, New York City, USA

Shared lineage

The tower, which shares the same name as one of the two previous towers that fell, was designed by David Childs, a consulting design partner at SOM. He says the idea was to make One WTC “like the Washington Monument, a real marker for downtown but a very distinctive building, like a lighthouse would be at the end of an island”.

It’s safe to say from the finished article that Childs’ aim was realised. Standing adjacent to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, the slender, tapering shape of One WTC rises from a cubic base. Its square edges are chamfered back, transforming the square into eight tall isosceles triangles in elevation. At its middle, the tower forms a perfect octagon in plan and then culminates in a glass parapet whose plan is a 45 m-square, rotated 45 degrees from the base.

Its overall effect is that of a crystalline form that captures an ever-evolving display of refracted light. As the sun moves through the sky or we move around the tower, the surfaces appear like a kaleidoscope, and will change throughout the day as light and weather conditions change.

The American Institute of Architects has recognised the practice twice with its highest honour, the Architecture Firm Award – once in 1962 and again in 1996. The firm maintains offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai and Abu Dhabi.

Building Refurbishment specialists IBI needed all their nearly two decades’ expertise to remove and replace the roof of the KOHO project.

Contractors IBI Ltd faced a top-down challenge having successfully secured the KOHO project, the conversion of an existing 14 storey light industrial building in Kwun Tong to office space.

Over its 17 years in business, IBI has handled at least 15 similar alteration and addition refurbishments (A&A) on existing buildings, several in conjunction with Pamfleet, the lead development company in the KOHO overhaul.

IBI’s hard-earned experience has placed it in a perfect position for more retrofit and refurbishment contracts.  According to company director Neil Howard. “IBI has forecast that wholesale building conversions will provide a vital solution for the future growth of Hong Kong’s commercial stock.  There is an ever-increasing shortage of sites for new commercial space and businesses are increasingly willing to move outside of their traditional CBD locations to secure more cost efficient solutions.”

One of the more demanding aspects of IBI’s undertaking at KOHO was the complete removal of the roof and replacement with a structurally stronger version that would sustain the weight of a completely new building services installation, vital for the former factory to be upgraded to A-Grade office standard.

Previously, the building on Hung To Road in Kwun Tong had housed a manufacturing company producing polyethylene and textiles.  As the existing building had no provision for air conditioning the existing roof could not have supported the new chillers and back-up generators needed.

Demanding Environment

Making the assignment more challenging was the profile of the neighbourhood.  Kowloon East is a busy area that is home to offices, hotels and residential properties both of which generate considerable pedestrian and vehicle traffic.  IBI had to be extremely mindful of both the general public and other companies operating in adjacent buildings and were obliged to minimise noise pollution that would otherwise disturb day-to-day operations of these businesses.

The tight deadline and the demanding conditions helped place a premium on ingenuity and efficiency.

“Each site has a unique set of parameters and challenges and because of this an experienced construction team is required to provide adaptive solutions to the unique challenges and site conditions that present themselves,” says company director Steven Smithers.

On the KOHO job, IBI had to demolish the existing roof slab and columns whilst being careful not to damage any of the remaining structure.   As the roof could not bear the weight of more heavy-duty demolition equipment the demolition of the old roof slab took a painstaking two months out of the already limited 10-month timeframe.  Working through the notorious Hong Kong rainy season didn’t make the task any easier.

Careful demolition of the old slab was just part of the challenge – then there was the issue of disposal.

For public safety reasons the more typical option for this job was not feasible – namely the external chute that’s such a familiar sight in Hong Kong, like a waterslide for refuse removal from heights.  Instead the rubble had to be taken out through the interior of the building, a much more labour-intensive task than the gravity-friendly chute.

Rejuvernation

After the demolition, comes the reconstruction and it’s in that phase where IBI really shines.

But the same limitations applied.  With such a restrictive site it was impossible to install a tower crane for faster delivery of materials to high floors.  Instead IBI moved materials to the roof using the internal stairs and a small derrick on the front of the building.

After the new roof had been constructed there was the task of installing the MEP plant equipment – a job made harder by the derrick being limited to carrying a five tonne load. Further constraints came from the environmental requirements of the LEED rating system and BEAM standard.

From a management perspective, IBI’s managers say the KOHO job posed considerable coordination issues because it featured many different work fronts active at the same time. Coordination was essential to ensure worker and community safety while also maximising efficient completion of tasks.

Apart from the roof work IBI also fitted out two new ground floor lift lobbies as well as removing all the external walls and installing a design and build wall façade system comprising of 3-m high and 2-m wide panels of glass – a delicate job.

A solid foundation

The company did have one thing in its favour, however.  The structural quality of the existing structure was better than others they had been involved with, according to senior project manager Li Wai Hong.

“IBI have previously worked on some building refurbishment projects where the structural integrity was in a very poor state and required significant repair works.  KOHO’s existing structure was in great condition for a building built in 1977.”

Established in Hong Kong in 1997, IBI has grown to a workforce of 100. IBI has offices in both Hong Kong and Macau and is a market leader in building refurbishment and in the fitting out of corporate, retail, hospitality and education spaces.

As the KOHO project demonstrates, what really sets the company apart is the hands-on nature of the entire management team and a business philosophy of openness, collaborative consultation and dedication.  The KOHO project saw all of these qualities in action and has resulted in a very successful outcome for the Employer and whole project team.

For years Kowloon’s Kwun Tong area was known as an industrial zone famous for its manufacturing buildings and warehouses. Today, the area is alive with renewal and revitalization projects. KOHO is one such scheme: a wholesale building conversion project that is part of a government initiative to revitalize dilapidated industrial buildings in Kwun Tong and give them a new lease on life through new uses.

The existing building began its life as the Kian Dai Industrial Building, built in 1980 as a wool factory. The new building is based on the existing bulk, but will be transformed into an office tower that sits upon a podium with retail space on the ground floor.

The remarkably wide frontage of KOHO, spanning approximately 47 metres along Hung To Road, allows natural light to penetrate the new offices. The principal elevation is revitalised by a “window wall” system with panels clad in glass and tile, and full-width windows that use natural light to create a “loft office” environment. To reduce the bulk and enhance the building’s exterior, the elevation design asymmetrically breaks down the façade, and embellishes it with vertical architectural features.

After

Before

The combination of the rejuvenated façade and podium makes KOHO a significant visual link for those approaching from Hoi Yuen Road. At street level, the main entrance lobby is highlighted by a metal panel-cladded canopy which contrasts with the glass canopy along the remaining portion of the elevation. To align the theme throughout the building, bronze and earth tone finishes are carried through from the elevation to the interior.

Inside, the original lightwells are conserved as an homage to the building’s past. No changes were made to the existing floor-to-floor height of the building, allowing the existing lift cores to be used by refitted lift cars, whisking workers up to the new office tower. Layout changes were made to the office floors above, in order to satisfy the current building planning regulations and upgrade bathrooms with new fixtures.

The 13-storey KOHO building has a total gross floor area of around 19,000 square metres. The podium runs from the ground to the third floor, with each storey having a floor area of approximately 1,850 square metres. The office floors are located between the fourth and twelfth storeys and are roughly 1,280 square metres each, with the fourth floor opening onto a rear flat roof. A total of eight loading and unloading and 20 car parking spaces are provided.

Construction of this new Kwun Tong icon commenced in February 2014 and is due for completion in January 2015.

World Architecture Festival (WAF) is the largest annual festival and live awards programme for the global architecture community. The 7th WAF was held in October at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, with three central pillars of activity. These include the world’s largest annual awards programme in which practices from around the world compete across 28 award categories for global recognition. Architects of every shortlisted project are invited to attend the festival to give a live presentation to a panel of judges, asserting their case for why their project should win.

The winners of each category are put forward to compete for the coveted World Building of the Year award, presided over by the festival’s ‘super-jury’, with the presentation of the award being the culmination of WAF 2014. This instalment’s super jury members were Richard Rogers (chair), Rocco Yim, Julie Eizenberg, Enric Ruiz Geli and Peter Rich.

The Chapel, Vietnam, designed by a21studio, won the World Building of the Year award at WAF 2014.

The Chapel is a community space in a new urban ward on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. As a result of estate crisis, the surrounding area lacks communal centres. Therefore, the Chapel is designed to be the place for people to participate in activities such as conferences, weddings and exhibitions. The Chapel takes advantage of materials from the owner’s previous projects such as steel frames and metal sheets.

Alex Monroe Studio – DSDHA

The project was selected by the festival’s super-jury. Commending the winning project, Paul Finch, WAF Programme Director, said: “The judges felt this was a project that embraced history and modernity, and created a dialogue in the process. It has created maximum effect with minimum materials and has produced an unexpected change of pace in its urban context. The opportunity has been taken to recycle and rethink materials and site, and a series of design issues have been addressed which have produced a small project that makes a big statement. Colour and light have been deployed to put people at ease and the architect has found poetry in the mundane.”

Previous winners of the World Building of the Year Award include Luigi Bocconi University, Milan, designed by Irish practice Grafton Architects (2008); Mapungubwe Interpretation Centre in South Africa, designed by Peter Rich Architects of Johannesburg (2009); MAXXI (National Museum of the 21st Century Arts) in Rome, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects (2010); Media TIC, designed by Cloud 9 Architects (2011); Gardens By The Bay, designed by Wilkinson Eyre, Grant Associates, Atelier One and Atelier Ten (2012); Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki by Frances-Jones Morehen Thorp (2013).

Three other major awards and two inaugural prizes were also awarded during the gala dinner awards ceremony which marked the culmination of WAF 2014. These were:

Future Project of the Year: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Canada, designed by 5468796 Architecture + number TEN architectural

Landscape Project of the Year: National Arboretum Canberra, Australia, designed by Taylor Cullity Lethlean and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer

Small Project of the Year: The Pinch, China, designed by  Olivier Ottevaere and John Lin, The University of Hong Kong

Colour Prize: Departments of Law and Central Administration, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria, designed by Cook Robotham Architectural Bureau

Aggv Oculus

Wood Excellence Prize: Alex Monroe Studio, Snowfields, UK, designed by DSDHA

WAF has a wide-ranging conference programme, featuring keynote lectures, dozens of expert-led talks and seminars from thought-leading architects and designers from across the globe. All award entries were displayed in three festival halls in a unique awards gallery; where sponsors and suppliers can interact with delegates, make new contacts and showcase their services and products. In 2015 WAF will be held  at the Suntec Convention & Exhibition Centre, Singapore, from 4 to 6 November. For more information please visit www.worldarchitecturefestival.com. 

Over 900 leading real estate executives from more than 30 countries reacted positively to the high-level discussions on inward and outbound investment in the Asia Pacific which was the central theme of MIPIM Asia, the property leaders’ summit in Asia Pacific.

Ronnie Chan, Chairman of Hang Lung Properties Limited, said after delivering the opening keynote at MIPIM Asia 2014, “This is the 9th year that I have joined MIPIM Asia where experts and key persons from around the world meet once a year here in Hong Kong to discuss mutually-beneficial matters and business opportunities.”

Michael Moir, Director of Property at Hong Kong Jockey Club and also one of the jurors for the MIPIM Asia Awards 2014, commented, “I like the format of MIPIM Asia and the variety of people it gathers here. I am able to meet so many interesting potential partners in just two days. Yet other than the networking opportunity, the summit itself is also very informative and forward-looking. I am totally looking forward to the next MIPIM Asia in 2015.”

The 8th edition of the MIPIM Asia Awards 2014 reflected the vibrancy and innovation of the real estate sector throughout the region. The MIPIM Asia Awards international jury, headed by Nicholas J. LOUP, Chief Executive, Grosvenor Asia Pacific, and composed of 17 industry experts, examined 126 projects from 13 countries, which entered this year’s competition.

Loup said: “One of the consistent themes across all the Awards is the higher regards being put on the environmental developments. As we have seen a number of interesting and creative projects in the fields of education and schools, we are thinking of creating a new category in non-commercial and non-profit areas for next year.”

MIPIM Asia’s popular awards saw 33 projects honoured in 11 categories. Amongthem, 17 awards were won by projects from China, while Singapore projects won 6 awards and Hong Kong projects won 4 awards in total. The Special JuryAward went to the Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University Administration Information Building in Suzhou of China. The winning projects were selected among 128 nominations by an international jury panel headed by Nicholas J. Loup, Chief Executive of Grosvenor Asia Pacific.For more information please visit: www.mipim-asia.com.

Purcell has put the theory of building conservation and restoration into practice on some of the world’s most valuable built heritage.

Not every architectural practice lets its portfolio speak for itself. Purcell does. The company’s forte lies in restoration and refurbishment, with a client list and project portfolio that has a halo of pomp and grandeur.

The firm’s 67-year history includes work on some of the most iconic and esteemed buildings and institutions in Britain, including the Palace of Westminster that accommodates the Houses of Parliament, the British Museum, St Paul’s Cathedral, the National Gallery and the National Maritime Museum.

The company philosophy, expressed on its website, is “Thoughtfully Designed Evolution”. In practice that ethos has seen Purcell apply care and passion to finding customised solutions and upgrades for some of Britain’s best-loved structures.

“Whether restoring a historic property, creating a contemporary addition, or designing a new eco-home, our passionate and creative team design bespoke solutions that provide high quality spaces with strong identity,” says Chris Betts, a Purcell partner and head of the firm’s residential team.

From its beginnings in post-war England, the firm has grown into an international outfit with 18 offices, mostly in Britain and the Asia-Pacific region. Its Asia-Pacific regional headquarters is in Hong Kong. And so, too, is one of its recent high-profile projects – the conservation and regeneration of Central Police Station, a site that has been idle for eight years.

Helena May, Hong Kong

Mending fabric

Working for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Purcell has sought appropriate adaptive reuses for the 17 buildings in the compound, a designated monument which was decommissioned as a police station in 2006.

The challenge for Purcell and the concept architects Herzog & de Meuron is to strike a balance between the historic character of the buildings that date to 1841 and sustainable renewal requirements. Purcell’s design notes for the project call for a scheme to “create a coherent identity for the site as a whole, and forge new links to make the site an integral part of the city’s fabric and cultural life”.

Those objectives seem outlandish but Purcell has the pedigree backed by testimonials from satisfied clients. Take Daniel Robbins, senior curator at Leighton House Museum in London, who says of his experience: “The quality of the work that was completed at Leighton House has captured the public’s imagination and generated enormous new interest since completion”.

And Perdita Hunt, director of the Watts Gallery in Compton, Surrey, England, is similarly effusive. “Purcell related instantly to the ethos of the Watts Gallery and history. They took all pains to preserve its unique character, while providing immensely helpful practical advice,” she says.

Set in stone

St. Georges Hall, Livepool

The Purcell story began in 1947 when Donovan Purcell founded the firm which became Purcell Miller Tritton after Peter Miller and Bill Tritton came on board.

Donovan Purcell was a fellow of Corpus Christi College Cambridge where he taught at the School of Architecture. He was fascinated with the construction skills of local craftsmen and with the materials they used, particularly stone, brick and terracotta.

In the 1960s, he was appointed by Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire to launch a restoration campaign and to work on stabilising the west tower. This paved the way for more than two decades of careful and considered repair.

Donovan Purcell’s commitment to the highest standards of architecture and his enthusiasm for the work became characteristic of the company as the practice grew. Among his published works are Stones of Ely Cathedral, Cambridge Stone and The Building of Ely Cathedral, all reflecting his passion for traditional materials, venerable buildings and craftsmanship.

He was the founder and first chairman of the Standing Joint Committee on Natural Stones in 1974, a forum to increase the awareness of natural stone at all levels and to work for a wider knowledge of its use. Purcell’s legacy is commemorated in the annual Donovan Purcell Lecture which was started in 1969.

Grand designs

Today, the practice maintains the high standards of its founder with a team of approachable, intelligent, dynamic architects, heritage consultants and surveyors responding creatively to challenges in conservation.

Among the contracts on Purcell’s roll of honour is its work on the Palace of Westminster,  where it is responsible for a 10-year rolling programme of repairs on all cast-iron roofs. Additionally, the press gallery has been refurbished with the removal of some internal walls and creation of fresh spaces,

Another high-end job was the conservation project on St Paul’s Cathedral, a major series of works that revitalised Sir Christopher Wren’s domed masterpiece with structural repairs, reconstruction of damaged steps, cleaning and relighting.  Completed on deadline in time for the building’s tercentenary in 2010, Purcell’s efforts were recognised with multiple industry awards.

The practice’s association with the British Museum extends to 1995. Since 1999, the company has been the museum’s Conservation Architect. It has carried out refurbishments of various galleries but its most notable achievement was the repair and remodelling of the Manuscript Saloon, one of the oldest parts of the neo-classical part of the building that dates back to 1825.

The most difficult part was to transform old original book presses into illuminated display cases. Fibre optic cabling was threaded into the presses to provide unobtrusive but effective lighting. Purcell again liaised with English Heritage and also with officials from the local government to ensure no damage was done to the historic fabric.

In the hospitality sector, Purcell is rightly proud of the transformation it did on the Athenaeum Hotel in London’s Piccadilly. Alterations in the 1970s had left the prominent, wonderfully situated Art Deco hotel, looking dated. Public areas were upgraded, the original architecture recovered, the creation of a remodelled exterior that saw a nine-storey living botanical wall become the building’s façade, and the addition of Juliet balconies and French doors.

With prestige accomplishments to its name and such great standards to live up to, Purcell has become a byword for respectful, knowledgeable, effective renovations, epitomising its promise of “Thoughtfully Designed Evolution”.

The Green Building Awards (GBA) have run biennially since they were inaugurated by the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) and the Professional Green Building Council (PGBC) in 2006.

The awards recognize building projects across the Asia-Pacific region that demonstrate outstanding performance, contribute to the environment and that embody the principles of sustainable design. 12 different projects designed by DLN have won awards in the prestigious GBA in the past 8 years. This is a reflection of DLN’s achievement in the field of environmentally-friendly design and the seriousness with which the practice approaches sustainability.

The GBA hold candidate projects to a high standard. The panel for this year’s awards included a diverse group of 27 local and overseas professionals. The honorary adviser was Mr Paul Chan, Secretary for Development, HKSAR. The GBA has a strong reputation and the results are well regarded by the industry.

DLN’s Commitment to Sustainability

At DLN, architects always consider environmental strategies from the outset when designing any project. Environmental strategies inform all aspects of design and DLN’s overarching objective of adding value and amenity for clients and end-users.

In 2009, DLN established an in-house Sustainable Design Department, led by Carolin Fong, Director and Head of Sustainable Development. The Department has over 30 BEAM Professionals and LEED APs. DLN’s Sustainable Design Department undertakes in-house peer review of project design and advises on the implementation of sustainable design in DLN’s building projects. DLN organises frequent workshops and seminars for its employees to learn about the most up-to-date practices, trends and innovations in field of environmentally-friendly and low-energy design.

DLN concurrently invests heavily in technologyin order to advance its agenda for design that is informed by sustainable design principles. For example, the application of BIM and environmental and building physics analytical software have been adopted for a number of years by DLN to achieve even more environmentally friendly designs that reduce project ecological footprints without compromising either value or amenity

Proposed Green Deck Over Cross Harbour Tunnel Plaza (Merit Award)

The proposed Green Deck comprises a public park to be built over the Cross Harbour Tunnel Hung Hom Toll Plaza.

The Green Deck would massively improve the urban amenity of the area between Hung Hom station, the Hong Kong Coliseum, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Tsim Sha Tsui East. A locale that is currently afflicted by noise and poor air quality would be replaced by a spacious, green and tranquil landscaped pedestrian environment.

In addition to a park it envisaged that the deck would contain public sports, cultural and leisure facilities.

The Green Deck project creates the opportunity to incorporate air filtration systems so that tunnel portal emissions align with the purity of emissions targeted for the latest generation of the road tunnels in Hong Kong. Other environmental features include wind catchers, solar lighting and grey-water recycling. The Green Deck targets zero carbon consumption and emission.

Campus Design of University Pembangunan Jaya, Tangerang, Indonesia (Merit Award)

DLN’s environmentally friendly design for this project focuses on passive design features to reduce lifecycle energy consumption and increase contact of building users with nature.

The design of the campus retains existing paddy fields and flora and the layout of the buildings exploits the potential for natural shading and ventilation. This approach has also resulted in a campus where every space is in close proximity to nature.

The passive approach is extended to flood management: the elevated design of the buildings enables the entire site to function as a flood retention reservoir without affecting key functions of the university. Grade level areas beneath the tall under crofts of the buildings provide sheltered outdoor space and accommodate shade-loving vegetation.

This phased development will provide an engaging and inspiring environment for 10,000 students and full completion is scheduled for 2025.

The organiser of the renowned Cityscape events, Informa Exhibitions, has announced that the latest edition of the world’s largest portfolio of real estate investment and development events will be held in Malaysia. The inaugural launch of Cityscape Malaysia 2015 is slated for 4^th to 6^th February 2015 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

Supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia and Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB), Cityscape Malaysia is an event that will put the Malaysian real estate market into international focus and aid foreign direct investment as well as domestic investment.

YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, Minister of Tourism and Culture Malaysia said “Tourism is one of the contributors to the socio-economic development of any nation. In Malaysia, the tourism industry remains robust and is the sixth largest contributor, with a contribution of RM51.5 billion to the Gross National Income (GNI) to the economy in 2013. In Malaysia, Business Tourism is indeed an industry with huge potential for growth. The industry is expected to bring a greater flow of high-yield business visitors to Malaysia, from 5% to 8% of the total tourist arrivals by 2020. Malaysia’s value-for-money proposition, sound infrastructure, rich cultural diversity and political stability are among the main contributors to its strong economic position in the region. Its service industry is considered one of the best and friendliest in the world. Events such as Cityscape Malaysia are positive contributors in boosting Malaysia as an investment destination including revving up the MICE sector, which in turn offers tourists incentives to visit the country and attract business travelers.”

Deep Marwaha, Group Director of Informa Exhibitions said “Informa has been organising Cityscape in countries where real estate plays a significant role in the growth of the economy. The level of interest in our inaugural event in Malaysia has been very positive, and I would like to thank the real estate community for their support for the event as well as key government organisations, such as the Malaysia Tourism and Culture Ministry, and MyCEB.”

Cityscape was incepted in Dubai, a mecca of iconic and innovative property development. Since its launch in 2002, Cityscape has catapulted to being world renowned for property development showcases, facilitation of business opportunities and investments, and networking for the real estate movers and shakers. It has since expanded its event editions to Abu Dhabi, Egypt, Riyadh, Jeddah, Qatar, Kuwait, Latin America, USA and Asia.

Exhibitors who have confirmed their participation at Cityscape Malaysia are the country’s largest real estate developers, including S P Setia Bhd, UEM Surise Bhd and Eco World Development Sdn Bhd.

Commenting on their participation at Cityscape Malaysia 2015, Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of UEM Sunrise Berhad said “We are very excited to be part of such a high profile property event. At UEM Sunrise, we create world-class property developments which we are proud to be able to showcase here. As one of the leading property developers in Malaysia, we will continue to push the boundaries and develop innovative solutions to building homes which will appeal globally both in our home market and beyond”.

Eco World Development Group welcomed the first Cityscape in Malaysia. Dato’ Chang Khim Wah, President & CEO of Eco World Development Group said “Having an internationally recognised real estate event such as Cityscape take place in our country speaks volumes for the confidence and belief that the world has in our local property market and economy. As Malaysia’s fastest growing property developer, we are indeed eager to showcase our products on a global platform.”

Deep Marwaha added that “Malaysia is home to a number of spawning developments, interesting concepts with trend setting architectural and landscaping designs as well as developments incorporating eco friendliness, lifestyle living, technological advances and security measures, whether in residential or commercial properties. Cityscape Malaysia will shine a spotlight on these developments. The event will serve as a platform for developers, real estate professionals, investors and property buyers to meet and evaluate business opportunities.”

Malaysia is progressing towards its goal of becoming a high-income nation by 2020. For the second quarter of 2014, the economy maintained its growth trajectory at 6.4% and also recorded the highest year-on-year second quarter growth rate since 2011. In the World Economic Outlook (WEO) 2014, released on 8 April 2014, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated that global economic activity was expected to improve further in 2014 to 2015, as global recovery continued to gain momentum, but growth process was expected to remain at an uneven speed. In the interim, the IMF had forecasted global growth at 3.6% this year and 3.9% in 2015.

The positive economic growth locally and globally will bolster Malaysia’s property sector, which is also considered one of the most promising economic activity in the region owing to its attractive property prices as compared to Singapore or Hong Kong and an assuring capital growth rate and rental yield.

Besides the exhibition, Cityscape Malaysia 2015 will play host to a plethora of knowledge-sharing and networking events including the Malaysia Real Estate Summit, the Islamic Property Finance Forum, and a series of investor round tables.

Cityscape Malaysia is organised for local and international participants and attendees from real estate developers to institutional investors, financiers, investment promotion agencies, real estate service and solutions providers, urban planners, architects and designers and property buyers. Cityscape Malaysia is supported by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, MyCEB, and Visit Malaysia Year 2014, with IQI as Silver Sponsor and is expected to attract over 5,000 participants and 70 exhibitors.

For more information: http://www.cityscapemalaysia.com

The world’s top five largest shopping malls now reside in Asia. However, along with the challenges that people are looking for more engaging experiences that go well beyond traditional shopping, e-commerce revolution and rise of digital technologies are becoming more popular, and urban commercial capacity has been in a tense way, whether the “Size” of shopping mall is still important? Facing the situation that diversified retail brands could be seen everywhere in China, even brand homogeneity in shopping mall is very intense, whether leasing capability of shopping mall is still the core competitiveness?

A storm of dramatic changes in China which are forcing commercial real estate developers to rethink how they conceive and operate their properties, to break through the “Pains”.

1. How large capacity of shopping mall will be needed in one commercial project?

2. What is the real function of next generation shopping mall?

3. How O2O technologies influence traditional offline business model?

4. How to leverage public space of shopping mall to become new consumption points?

5. How to reshape consumer expectations and shifting the function of stores toward useful and   entertaining customer experiences?

6. How to change the role which high-density urban area play in people’s lives?

APCREC7will witness the biggest 6 industry problems currently; emphasizing “standing in the future, thinking now”; aggregating top think tank in industry; surrounding the theme of “trend, essence, tool”; bringing successful case studies and brilliant brainstorming; helping you break through the bottleneck period.

APCREC7 will be held on 21st-22nd, May in Shanghai Marriott Hotel Luwan. It will gather above 50 industry heavyweight speakers and 350 industry elites. You will enjoy this gluttonous feast of commercial real estate industry through these domestic & foreign cases and mindsets.

The forum will begin with the first chapter “ taking trends of regeneration” by 4 leading brainstorming. Topics will range from commercial property dimension, O2O big data application, gold proportion of commercial project portfolio and commercial product line layout. 24 top guests from Nielsen, Blackstone, Mapletree, Nan Fung, Tishman Speyer, Baidu, Alibaba Group, Evergrande Real Estate, JD.com, Intime Retail, Fosun Property, China Merchants Property, Poly Real Estate, Sino-Ocean Land, Greenland Group, Sincere Group, COFCO Longfor Group, OCT Group and Zhenro Group will bring all audience the most timely & effective information.

The second chapter “exploring methods to puzzles” will deeply analyze 4 hot commercial formats. The most intuitive feeling will be inspired through 1 overseas & 1 domestic case for each format. In terms of community: High management level of CapitaMalls and Fantasia will share their Singapore Lot 1 Shoppers’ Mall &“Colorful” Community B2F Platform, then “Winning in Last One Kilometer” brainstorming will be intensively discussed around Vanke Group, S.F. Express, Maan Coffee, YangGuang Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Zendai Property. Regarding to tourism & resort, Resorts World Sentosa and Chimelong Ecology-Tourism City cases will be well presented, moreover, “Tourism Business: Destination New Landmark” brainstorming will gather Franshion Properties, Shanghai Disney Resort, Antaeus Group, Wilson Associates and CITIC Real Estate. Referring to urban regeneration & TOD hub, Singapore Clarke Quay, Hangzhou Clean-River Street, Changi Airport & Hongkong MTR will be completely displayed.

The final chapter “Optimizing Tools during Moving” will explore two kinds of innovation mode: project upgrading & retail innovation. Hongkong Hysan Place and Foshan Incity will be classically interpreted. After that, decision makers from CP Modern Living Group, China Resources Land, Swire Properties, New World Department Store, and Shui On Land will illustrate that a differentiated design and structure is increasingly important since such elements will help malls better blend in with their surroundings. In terms of retail innovation, typical companies like JASONWOOD, Starbucks, Fangsuo Commune, Club Monaco, Walmart, Seahood, Fengguo and Cinema City will be actively involved discussing the 3 biggest creative retail formats: experience, big data & cross-over cooperation.

Except exciting forum content, the forum will deeply enhance guests’ interaction experience through online to offline such as applying related WeChat activities, on-site voting, lucky draw and other leisure & entertainment events.

APCREC7 will gather top-level decision makers from commercial developers, retailers (on the context of entry luxury, leisure & entertainment, brand gallery & children format), leading architecture design firms, senior commercial property operation agencies and product, software solution providers.

We wish you could enjoy all wonderful planning in the two consecutive days including listening to the latest trend publishing, participating newest cases sharing and conducting interactive networking. Expecting to see you and your company in Shanghai in this May!

For more information please visit : www.linver-insights.com/apcrec7/index_en.html

Aedas today announces that UK architectural practice RHWL, and its specialist cultural and public building subsidiary Arts Team, has joined its global network. These units are now known as Aedas RHWL and Aedas Arts Team respectively. As part of the move, Peter Shaw joins the Global Board of Aedas and continues to lead Aedas RHWL whilst Barry Pritchard leads Aedas Arts Team.

“RHWL has strong experience in urban planning and commercial development in London and the UK and is one of the most prominent European arts and culture architects. Aedas RHWL will support our Asian clients and mixed commercial and residential work in London,” said Keith Griffiths, Chairman of Aedas. “We are also keen to work on arts and cultural commissions in the expanding Chinese market and will be introducing Aedas Arts Team to this territory.”

Peter Shaw, Executive Director of Aedas RHWL said, “We are delighted to be joining Aedas and look forward to further developing our commercial and arts design skills in Europe, and bringing these skills to Asian markets through Aedas’ existing network. We believe the two practices share common values of design quality and delivering a high standard of service to clients, while having a complementary distribution of sector and geographic capability.”

Prior to joining Aedas, RHWL has built a strong reputation for the design and delivery of varied projects across the UK, continental Europe and the Middle East for more than 50 years. The 50 strong practice has substantial experience in urban planning and commercial development and is one of the most prominent European arts and culture architects. Among more than 100 completed arts buildings, RHWL has been responsible for creating landmark developments such as the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London.

The move strengthens Aedas’ ability to seek and deliver arts and cultural design commissions in its established markets in Asia, utilising Aedas RHWL’s substantial experience in this sector. Aedas RHWL will also contribute to the design and masterplanning of mixed commercial and residential work in London for Aedas’ existing and future clients.

Aedas RHWL has offices in London, Berlin and Doha, and will join Aedas’ existing global network of 12 offices in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America.

For more infomation please visit : aedas.co
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Hong Kong, 9 February 2015 – Hong Kong ranks eighth on the inaugural Sustainable Cities Index from Arcadis, the leading global natural and built asset design and consultancy firm. The Index, which was conducted by the Center for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) explores social (People), environmental (Planet) and economic (Profit) demands to develop an indicative ranking of 50 of the world’s leading cities. The 2015 report finds that no utopian city exists, with city leaders having to manage a complex balancing act between these three key pillars of sustainability.  Frankfurt sits in first place, followed by London and Copenhagen on the ranking.

Hong Kong excels on the Profit sub-index. The Profit sub-index examines performance from a business perspective, combining measures of transport infrastructure (rail, air, other public transport and commuting time), ease of doing business, the city’s importance in global economic networks, property and living costs, GDP per capita and energy efficiency.

William Taam, City Executive Director for Shanghai and the Pearl River Delta at Arcadis comments: “Of all the cities studied, Hong Kong is one of the world’s best performing cities for the ease of doing business. Hong Kong also leads the way on university education and life expectancy, and offers its people the highest percentage of green space. In order to ensure a more sustainable future for Hong Kong, we need to focus more on improving the quality of life and environment within this vibrant city.”

Asia cities ranking in the 2015 ARCADIS Sustainable Cities Index are:

The full rankings can be viewed at www.sustainablecitiesindex.com

Looking at the broader Asia-Pacific region, Seoul performs particularly well on the People sub-index which index rates transport infrastructure, health, education, income inequality, work-life balance, the dependency ratio and green spaces within cities, reaching second place globally.In part this is due to a strong performing transport infrastructure, which is second only to another city in the continent, Melbourne. Yet, the Index also shows that high working hours (20 per cent higher than the global average) and a consistently poor work-life balance hold several Asian cities back from performing stronger on its people factors.

Singapore is the only country in Asia Pacific which made it into the top 10 of the Planet sub-index. The Planet sub-index looks at city energy consumption and renewable energy share, recycling rates, greenhouse gas emissions, natural catastrophe risk, drinking water, sanitation and air pollution. This demonstrates Singapore’s capability and commitment to green urbanization and to ensuring that sustainability is at the heart of its overall master plan.

Graham Kean, Asia-Pacific Head of Client Solutions at ARCADIS comments: “Cities in Asia Pacific demonstrate the greatest divergence: Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore all make it into the top ten of the overall ranking, while New Delhi, Wuhan, Mumbai, Manila and Jakarta sit at the bottom. The Sustainable Cities Index highlights the areas of opportunity for city leaders, to develop strategies for future decision-making to hopefully make them more sustainable economically, environmentally and for the welfare of their inhabitants.”

Shanghai, 9 February 2015 – Shanghai ranks eighth in Asia Pacific on the inaugural Sustainable Cities Index from Arcadis, the leading global natural and built asset design and consultancy firm.

The Index, which was conducted by the Center for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) explores social (People), environmental (Planet) and economic (Profit) demands to develop an indicative ranking of 50 of the world’s leading cities. The 2015 report finds that no utopian city exists, with city leaders having to manage a complex balancing act between these three key pillars of sustainability. Frankfurt sits in first place, followed by London and Copenhagen on the ranking.

Beijing is ninth and Wuhan is thirteen on the Asia-Pacific ranking.  The research also finds that one of the biggest challenges facing Shanghai, and many other tier one cities in China, will be around improving the quality of the living environment. Directives within the most recent Five Year Plan have driven a renewed focus on cleaning up old industrial zones within the Shanghai so that the land can be repurposed for alternative use. Similarly, efforts are underway to try and clean the three main rivers running through the city, to improve water quality, and to future-proof the Northern parts of the city against the risk of flooding.

William Taam, City Executive Director for Shanghai and the Pearl River Delta at Arcadis comments: “Shanghai’s built and natural environments will play a key role in helping to cement its place as the city of the 21^st century. There is a lot of work to do and success will be dependent on thorough planning and management of this portfolio of work. However the speed of progress the city has made over the last decade demonstrates what it can achieve. Supported by a well-educated workforce that is increasingly confident around the city’s status, the future looks very bright for Shanghai.”

Asia cities ranking in the 2015 ARCADIS Sustainable Cities Index are:

The full rankings can be viewed at www.sustainablecitiesindex.com

Three advanced Asian cities, Hong Kong, Seoul and Singapore, make the global top ten. Seoul performs particularly well on the People sub-index which index rates transport infrastructure, health, education, income inequality, work-life balance, the dependency ratio and green spaces within cities, reaching second place globally.In part this is due to a strong performing transport infrastructure, which is second only to another city in the continent, Melbourne. Yet the Index also shows that high working hours (20 per cent higher than the global average) and a consistently poor work-life balance hold several Asian cities back from performing stronger on its people factors.

Hong Kong excels on the Profit sub-index. The Profit sub-index examines performance from a business perspective, combining measures of transport infrastructure (rail, air, other public transport and commuting time), ease of doing business, the city’s importance in global economic networks, property and living costs, GDP per capita and energy efficiency. Hong Kong also leads the way on university education and life expectancy, and offers its people the highest percentage of green space.

Whilst Singapore is placed in the top ten in the Sustainable Cities Index, it ranks lower than Hong Kong and Seoul largely due lower scores for indicators like work-life balance,  expensive property prices, low use of renewable energy and a high cost of doing business. However, Singapore is the only country in Asia Pacific which made it into the top 10 of the Planet sub-index. The Planet sub-index looks at city energy consumption and renewable energy share, recycling rates, greenhouse gas emissions, natural catastrophe risk, drinking water, sanitation and air pollution. This demonstrates Singapore’s capability and commitment to green urbanization and to ensuring that sustainability is at the heart of its overall master plan.

Graham Kean, Asia-Pacific Head of Client Solutions at ARCADIS comments: “Cities in Asia Pacific demonstrate the greatest divergence: Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore all make it into the top ten of the overall ranking, while New Delhi, Wuhan, Mumbai, Manila and Jakarta sit at the bottom. The Sustainable Cities Index highlights the areas of opportunity for city leaders, to develop strategies for future decision-making to hopefully make them more sustainable economically, environmentally and for the welfare of their inhabitants.”

Hong Kong, 14 January 2015 – The Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) welcomes the policy initiatives on promoting environmental protection and green building in the 2015 Policy Address made by C.Y. LEUNG, Chief Executive of the Government of the HKSAR. In response, the HKGBC calls on the Government to consider the following four recommendations to reinforce the development of green building in Hong Kong.

Energy Saving Measures in Government Buildings

The HKGBC welcomes the announcement of the new target of a 5% reduction in electricity consumption in government buildings under comparable operating conditions over the coming five years. We will proactively assist the Government to conduct energy audits for major Government buildings and provide concrete suggestions to enhance energy efficiency. We hope the example that the Government is setting will encourage the private sector and the general public to increase the momentum of green building development. In future, we hope the Government will set a higher objective in reducing the energy use to ensure Hong Kong achieves the aspiration of becoming a low-carbon city.

Green Procurement

The HKGBC welcomes the Government’s plan to expand the current procurement list, update specifications and verification methods and explore the wider use of recycled and other environment-friendly materials in public works projects. We suggest that the Government considers adopting the green construction material standard proposed in the “HKGBC Green Building Product Labelling Scheme”. This would drive the adoption of green procurement practices in both the public and private sectors.

Urban Planning

The HKGBC supports the Government’s intention to increase land and housing supply. We suggest that the Government should impose clauses in leases for private site developments in new development areas (for example the pilot “Smart City” project at Kowloon East and Hung Shui Kiu). These would require new development projects to achieve at least Gold rating under the BEAM Plus New Building certification scheme. We further suggest that the Government consider applying the “Green Neighbourhood” assessment tool that will be rolled out by the HKGBC this year. The tool will set new benchmarks to enhance the quality of the living environment for the community.

Conversion of Construction Materials

The HKGBC is pleased to note the Government’s review of the current rate of construction waste handling and its commitment to a recycling fund to encourage sustainable development in the recycling industry. The HKGBC has already launched an online sharing platform, “HK G-Share”, to help the industry and the general public to share and reuse construction and domestic materials. The HKGBC will collaborate closely with the Government to explore the feasibility of converting construction waste into recyclable materials.

The HKGBC is dedicated to raising industry and public awareness of green building and sustainable development in Hong Kong and around the world. Its initiatives include jointly organising the annual “Hong Kong Green Building Week”, hosting and promoting international sustainable building conferences such as the WorldGBC Congress 2015 and the World Sustainable Built Environment Conference 2017 for Hong Kong, in conjunction with the Construction Industry Council. The HKGBC will proactively collaborate with the Steering Committee on the Promotion of Green Building to conduct these important global events, helping to build Hong Kong into a better, low-carbon and more ‘liveable’ city in partnership with the Government and the local community.

HONG KONG, 10 February 2015 – JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group has appointed Bob Merrigan as Executive Vice President, Hotel Project Services, further strengthening the group’s commitment to deliver specialised project development services for hospitality clients across the Asia Pacific region.

Boasting an impressive list of hospitality clients throughout Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean, Bob brings over 30 years of professional experience to JLL. In his most recent post, Bob served as a Vice President, Property Services, Asia Pacific for Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, where he was responsible for the group’s construction and renovation projects around the region. Prior to Outrigger, Bob was a Partner in a Bangkok-based consultancy firm following a 20+ year tenure with a leading global consultancy firm, EC Harris.

At JLL, Bob will focus on providing planning and technical services, project management support and hotel development/renovation expertise on advisory and transactional assignments across Asia Pacific. Bob will also drive the bidding, conversion and set up of key project management assignments for JLL’s hospitality clients throughout the region. Based in JLL’s Bangkok office, Bob will have a dual role, jointly supporting the regional Project & Development Services (PDS) and Hotels & Hospitality platforms.

Mike Walsh, Managing Director, Hotel Project Services, JLL Asia Pacific said: “With Bob’s appointment, we are looking to build on the great success that the Project & Development Services team has been able to achieve for our hospitality clients in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific, and believe his addition will broaden our portfolio and increase the level of joint assignments for the firm.”

Scott Hetherington, Chief Executive Officer, Asia, Hotels & Hospitality Group added: “Bob’s expertise, coupled with a new level of depth in the PDS service offering, will prove to be a further differentiator of the value JLL can deliver to our clients.”
The latest appointment reinforces JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group’s strategy to strengthen its team in Asia Pacific and to offer a complete suite of specialised hotel real estate services to its clients.

HONG KONG, 11 Feb 2015 —Colliers International today announced the appointment of David Hand as CEO of Asia Pacific. In his role, Hand will be responsible for the overall operation and management of Colliers’ Asia Pacific business and will drive Colliers’ strategic objectives throughout the region.

Hand joins Colliers following a successful tenure with JLL spanning 18 years where he held a variety of leadership roles, most recently as International Director, Capital Markets based in Hong Kong.

He will report directly to Doug Frye, Global President and CEO of Colliers International, and will have an active role in the global senior executive team. Hand will lead business development activities across APAC with a focus on further integrating Colliers services across geographic markets and industry verticals.

“David is a key hire for Colliers International. He is not only a great cultural fit, but also has experience growing businesses across multiple sectors,” said Frye. “With over 20 years’ experience in Asia, David understands the region and has strong relationships among the local and international investor and occupier communities. His collaborative approach and commitment to his clients make him a strong asset for Colliers.”

Hand is well respected as an industry leader across Asia Pacific and is a recognised China expert.  He formerly instructed on real estate at Harvard GSD and was course leader for a similar course at Georgetown SCS, as well as lecturing on China’s property markets at Tsinghua University, Beijing. He is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is an advocate for gender diversity via mentorship. He has a Postgraduate Diploma in Town & Regional Planning from the University of Liverpool and a Bachelor of Science Degree with Honours from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

He will be based in Colliers International’s Hong Kong office effective 1 June 2015.