The China project

Seen from the air, the Marisfrolg Headquarters in Shenzhen, China, could be a bird in flight. Visitors strolling around the enormous complex will discern different natural shapes everywhere. This is Architecture van Brandenburg’s most ambitious project to date: a construction that covers 120,000 square metres of low lying, interconnected buildings located on a 5.5- hectare site. The headquarters of one of China’s leading high- end fashion labels, it includes an art exhibition centre, boutique hotel, restaurants, cafés, retail stores and a catwalk and event venue. “Recycling and repurposing of materials is an essential part of the design and construction,” says Fred. “A team from the construction site in China goes to factories to collect marble and granite offcuts, ceramics from potteries and glass slag from glassblowing factories. The materials are inserted into the building’s surfaces. Two of my staff from the Dunedin office have set up workshops to teach the construction workers how to apply the recycled material as mosaics and the like, so they are learning new skills which they can take with them to their next contract.”