Jerde Receives RetailWeek/MAPIC Award for Most Innovative Interior Design
CANNES, France & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 18, 2004--The Jerde Partnership, an internationally-acclaimed architecture and urban planning firm, today announced that its project, The Arcade at Cyberport in Hong Kong, has been named "Most Innovative Interior Design for a Retail Development" by RetailWeek/MAPIC's Retail Future Projects Awards.
The Arcade is the 27,000-square-meter community and commercial heart of Cyberport, the new high-tech enclave commissioned by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, to attract leading technology businesses to Telegraph Bay. To design The Arcade as a real-world environment enhanced by the real-time experience of the Internet, Jerde integrated the project's retail, entertainment, dining and exhibition components with interactive retail technologies and multi-media displays. Natural materials and rich landscaping give the project an intimate, village-like character while celebrating the ephemeral qualities of nature and technology.
"For more than 25 years, The Jerde Partnership has innovated the design of retail and commercial spaces by creating places that build community and provide people with memorable experiences," said Jerde Executive Vice President Rick Poulos. "The Arcade gave us the opportunity to explore the role of technology, which is changing the face of retail development, in creating a state-of-the-art, interactive environment for Cyberport's residents, workers and visitors to meet, relax, do business and re-connect. We believe The Arcade at Cyberport will serve as a model for future town centers."
As an integral part of the Hong Kong Cyberport project, The Arcade was developed by Pacific Century Premium Developments Limited (PCPD), the property arm of PCCW Limited. PCPD Sales and Marketing Director Wendy Gan added, "We are proud to be a partner in pursuing this unparallelled concept and are thrilled that, through the creativity of The Jerde Partnership, we have developed a technology-inspired commercial complex that not only stimulates public interest in information technology, but also creates an environment of increased quality of life for all who work or live at Cyberport."
The Arcade's iconic roof serves as the key organizing element for a matrix of projection and multi-media displays showcased in the main exhibition space at the center of the project. The main exhibition space is surrounded by an organically-composed village of streets, courtyards and plazas lined by retail, dining and entertainment venues that are wired to communicate with customers' mobile phones, PDAs and pagers. Reader boards, plasma screens, laser video interactive signage and dynamic kiosks further enliven the interactive environment.
Elements of the project reference and integrate the dramatic geography of The Arcade's physical location. Nature is evoked with the project's hill-like massing and terraced composition, which offer panoramic views to the ocean, and the translucent roof structure that connects The Arcade to conditions of the natural light outside. Stone and plant materials and interactive fountains and pools are found throughout.
The Arcade is owned by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, under the management of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited. It is expected to open in December 2004.
"The Arcade and Cyberport's grade A commercial offices, five-star hotel, and more than 2,800 units of luxury apartments are linked by an internal fibre-optic and wireless network that integrates people, technology and business seamlessly together," said Nicholas Yang, chief executive officer of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited. "Collaborating with PCPD and The Jerde Partnership, we are pleased to have built a unique retail project that Hong Kong people can all be proud of."
The Retail Future Projects Awards recognize groundbreaking projects that illustrate ideas and concepts that will energize and drive the procurement of the retail development of the future.
The Arcade at Cyberport will be recognized at MAPIC's awards dinner this evening in Cannes. MAPIC is a major international gathering of 6,000 players in the retail real estate industry.
About The Jerde Partnership
The Jerde Partnership, a visionary experience architecture and urban planning firm, designs innovative places that deliver memorable experiences and attract millions of people everyday. As the firm that pioneered "placemaking," Jerde projects throughout the world provide lasting social, cultural and economic value, and promote further investment and revitalization. Based in a 100-person studio in Los Angeles, and with offices in Amsterdam, Shanghai and Hong Kong, Jerde takes a co-creative approach to design and collaborates with local executive architects to realize the vision of their projects. The firm has received critical acclaim from organizations, including the American Institute of Architects, Progressive Architecture, American Planning Association, and The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design. Founded in 1977, Jerde currently has more than 30 on-going projects in Europe, Asia and the United States.
About Cyberport
Cyberport -- Hong Kong's IT Flagship -- is a landmark project managed by Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited and wholly owned by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The project is being developed on a 24-hectare site at Telegraph Bay in the southern district of Hong Kong Island. It comprises four office buildings, a five-star LeMeridien Cyberport hotel, a retail entertainment complex, the Arcade and a premium residential development, Bel-Air, and is aimed at providing an interactive environment that will be home to a strategic cluster of about 100 IT companies and 10,000 IT professionals. The project is being completed in phases from mid-2002 to 2007. To learn more about Cyberport, go to www.cyberport.hk.
About PCPD Pacific Century Premium Developments Limited ("PCPD")(SEHK:0432) is engaged in the development and management of property and infrastructure and owns an investment portfolio of premium-grade buildings in Hong Kong and beyond. Majority-owned by PCCW, PCPD Groups holds the development rights for the Cyberport project, which is owned by the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and includes the Bel-Air complex of prestige accommodation. To learn more about PCPD, go to www.pcpd.com.
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