Any unique shopping, office, retail or hotel concepts in your city? :D

Hong Kong's buildings are constructed and renovated with a green scaffolding net made of bamboo sticks.

Even large skyscrapers such as the Harbourside was covered in this green net during its construction :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/asiaglobe/RIMG2080.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/asiaglobe/RIMG2024.jpg

-_- u didnt kno dat?

China Square, Singapore

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=194807&page=1

China Square Conservation Area. It was the site of one of the first settlements in Chinatown, the oldest buildings (called shophouses) date back to probably the 1830s.

Shophouses are buildings with business facilities at the ground floor and residence or storage facility at the other floors.

By the 1900s, it had became slums. In the 1950s, it was reported that as many as 300 people were living in a single small shophouse! :runaway:
Conditions improved by the 1970s due to the increase in public housing.
It was in a very very bad state by the mid 1990s.

The next chapter begun in 1997, when the government announced the redevelopment of the area due to very close proximity to the Business District.

Some of the shophouses were zoned for conservation, while others were sacrificed for redevelopment. Buildings built on the site of the old shophouses are 3 Church Street, Prudential Tower, Great Eastern Centre, Marsh & McLennan Centre and Capital Square.


In 1999, part of the old district reopened as Far East Square.
In 2002, China Square Central opened.




China Square Central
Consists of 10 rows of shophouses between 2 and 3 storeys tall, and a new office tower. Shophouses are restored and integrated internally to create an office / retail / F&B complex. The old backlanes (alleys) are turned into internal access streets to the offices. The original front entrances are either sealed internally or recreated into F&B or retail outlets.

http://img198.exs.cx/img198/8286/chsqmap0px.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v427/rotpics03/seksi2.jpg

http://img52.exs.cx/img52/9239/011yq.jpg

http://img189.exs.cx/img189/5929/csq1zc.jpg

http://img228.exs.cx/img228/6814/042cu.jpg

http://img32.exs.cx/img32/2135/078xg.jpg
A new office building called Marsh & McLennan Centre is also part of the complex. It is that blue glass tower.

Vancouver's residential developments like to incorporate glass. However, the boom is quite recent so the skyline is somewhat uniform in style. Although the use of glass is not unique to Vancouver, the impact on the city's skyline is far more pervasive there than other cities on the continent.

http://www.globalphotos.org/vancouver/20040904/DSCN1701.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/vancouver/20040904/DSCN1717.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/vancouver/20040904/DSCN1729.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/vancouver/20040906/DSCN2346.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/vancouver/20040906/DSCN2382.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/vancouver/20040904/DSCN1692.jpg

Far East Square

http://www.ura.gov.sg/conservation/images/fes.jpg

Located across the street from China Square, it is based on the same concept.
61 shophouses ranging from 2 to 5 storeys of various styles were integrated internally. The streets were enclosed and air-conditioned. The backlanes were refurbished. Some were turned into retail space. The ground floor is reminiscence to the shophouse, holding retail and F&B outlets. Mostly offices above the 2nd floor.

Unique buildings inside Far East include a former free school and a former Chinese Taoist temple.The Chinese-styled school was turned into a restaurant while the temple was converted into a museum.

London's The City has some new projects even though it is the historic heart of London. Despite these redevelopment projects, many were designed to blend in with its surroundings. Here are some examples :

http://www.globalphotos.org/london/20041226/DSCN4552.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/london/20041226/DSCN4550.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/london/20041226/DSCN4546.jpg

However, there are some stark contrasts in some of these projects, notably Swiss Re and Lloyds, which are more modernist pieces that seem quite odd in the City's historical context.

http://www.globalphotos.org/london/20041226/DSCN4570.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/london/20041226/DSCN4579.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/london/20041228/DSCN5210.jpg

The architecture in Canary Wharf is quite uniformly simple.

http://www.globalphotos.org/london/20041230/DSCN6128.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/london/20041226/DSCN4594.jpg

http://www.globalphotos.org/london/20041226/DSCN4609.jpg