A series of high-quality spa resorts in China has the London office of Web Structures looking east once again as it also identifies Taiwan as a new area for growth in Asia.
The work on three cutting-edge resort projects for the Brilliant Hotel Management Group is just part of Web Structures’ growing presence in China as the company continues a decade of delivering its structural engineering expertise to developers in the economic powerhouse.
Web Structures has a strong track record of delivery in China that stretches back more than a decade. During that time it has been involved in a number of mixed-use and hotel developments, as well as masterplanning.
And now Taiwan is firmly on the radar with the first of what could be a series of new projects on the island, particularly in the capital Taipei.
Successfully-delivered developments on the mainland include the striking US$320 million Cambridge Forest hotel and shopping mall in Shanghai, designed by architects CSYA.
The practice’s London office is strengthening those links through its collaborations with architectural practices based in London that are heavily involved in cutting-edge projects both in China and in Taiwan.
The latest proposed Brilliant Spa Resort it has been appointed on is in the Chinese city of YangZhou. The London office will provide structural consultancy services. Architects on the project are Heah and Co.
Web Structures is already working on Brilliant resort projects in Chongqing and Kunming with Heah and Co, a London-based practice that offers holistic architectural, interior and furniture design services predominantly in the international luxury resort hotel market.
The Chongqing project has seen Web Structures utilise its experience in environmentally sensitive regions to help create a cliff top resort with a main 1,720 sq metre building and 32 spa villas.
In Kunming, the practice’s expertise in working in areas of high seismicity is playing an important role in delivery. Set on a bay on the Yangzhong lake, the resort will include a hotel, apartments, shops and lakeside villas with a total building area of 112,000 sq m.
The Brilliant Hotel Management Group has 16-years of experience in resort investment in China, creating five start hotels, spa resorts and country clubs.
In Taiwan, the London team is working on the concept stages of a proposed 28-storey tower in its capital Taipei, which includes a three-storey rooftop pavilion and Web Structures is once again bringing its experience working to create tall buildings in earthquake zones to the project.
Dr Hossein Rezai, Web Structures’ group director, says the practice sees strong areas of growth in China and in Taiwan.
He said: “We have been working in China for over a decade now with some success and we have seen the pace of development and urbanisation there continue to quicken.
“We’re now working with architectural practices based in London on a number of projects, including the resort work for the Brilliant Hotel Management group.
“China is definitely an area where we see the continued growing potential for our services.
“We’re also looking at another hotel project with a Hong-Kong-based architectural practice as we continue to grow our portfolio in China.
“Taiwan is proving another strong area for us, with a number of projects in the pipeline, once again looking to use our expertise working in areas of high seismicity.”