A Market Study on Opportunities for Norwegian Architects in China

Atelier cnS＋YCDAJanuary 2014

This research is commissioned

by Norwegian Consulate General Guangzhou

Team Member:

Gang Song / Ben Dai / Alice Du / Gelina Xiao (YCDA) /Amy Yang

Xianmei Hu / Amy Fan / Haonan Wu / Dingzhi Tang / Kelun Zhao

/ Wenjin Lai / Qiqi Luo / Jie He

Text Editor: Aidi Su (USA) / David Lin (Canada)

Content

I. Objectives ..................................................................................................................... 1

II. Study Process ............................................................................................................... 2

III. Study Results .............................................................................................................. 5

III-1 Architectural Design Market in China ............................................................................. 5

1) Status quo and Development Trend of Architectural Design Market in China .............. 5

2) Players in Chinese s Architectural Design Market .................................................... 10

3) Foreign Firms Practicing in the Chinese Architectural Design Market ......................... 15

III-2 Norwegian architects .................................................................................................... 33

1) Design Features of Norwegian Architects .................................................................... 33

2) Organizational Structure and Corporate Culture of Norwegian Architecture Firms ... 35

3) Norwegian architects’ globalization strategy ............................................................... 37

III-3 Matching study on Norwegian architecture firms’ entry into China Market .............. 40

1) Mutual Acceptance Level. ............................................................................................ 40

2) Strength of Norwegian architects in China. ................................................................. 42

3) Norwegian architects’ weaknesses and solutions ....................................................... 46

IV. Summary .................................................................................................................. 50

Flow Process Diagram...............................................................................................................

Appendix

A01 Data Research into Chinese Architectural Design Market

A02 Investigation Made on the Internet into Norwegian Architecture Firms

A03 YCDA-based Architecture Forum

A04 Interviews with Foreign Firms Operating in China

A05 Interviews with Local Design Institutes (LDIs) in China

A06 Interviews with Chinese Developers and Government Representatives

A07 Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

Objectives

1

I Objectives

R01 Widen investment access. Unify the law and regulations governing domestic and foreign

investment, and maintain the stability, transparency and predictability of foreign investment policies.

Promote the orderly opening-up of market access to financial, education, culture and medical sectors,

while ease the investment restriction of service sectors including nursery, pension, architecture design,

accounting and auditing, trade and logistics, and e-commerce. Further liberalize general

manufacturing. Accelerate integration and optimization of the custom-supervised special areas.

—— Excerpt from the report delivered at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee

The report delivered at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee, an

event with most political significance in China held in November 2013, has signaled a clear

message at the policy level that the architecture design industry will be fully open to foreign

investment. In this context, now it is of great significance to discuss and explore the

possibility for Norwegian architecture firms to enter the China market. At the end of 2013,

Atelier cnS and YCDA, commissioned by the Norwegian Consulate General Guangzhou,

made a research into the feasibility and specific ways for Norwegian architecture firms to

enter the Chinese market that is complicated in political and economic structure. The study

also provides a systematic review of the diversity of Chinese architecture design market and

tries to establish a framework for further study in future.

This study (Reading this report) will give Norwegian firms specific recommendations

regarding their entry into the Chinese market, and help them identify individual potential

markets based on their own characteristics and make corresponding self-evaluations

concerning the feasibility of specific operations and profitability of their investment in the

Chinese market. The study will also provide a reference workflow regarding their entry into

Chinese market.

Please note that there are some subjective factors which are based on our experience in the

contents and conclusions involving the non-objective data in this study.

Illustrations contained in this report are as follows:

R00 Related texts and graphics from corresponding network, yearbooks and magazines

C00 Relevant cases described by study groups and interviewees

T00 Tips for Norwegian architects

S00: Suggestions to Norwegian architects

F00: Figures and Diagrams

Study Process

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II Study Process

This study includes three aspects: The first is the specific interpretation of Chinese

architectural design market; the second involves the specific analysis on Norwegian

architecture firms (This analysis focuses on the interpretation of Norwegian firms by study

groups), and the third refers to the study of the matching between Norwegian firms and the

Chinese market. The proposals to Norwegian firms regarding their entry into Chinese market

are developed centering on the above three aspects.

F01: Research Process

The three aspects specifically study the following:

III-1 Architectural Design Market in China

1) Status quo and Development Trend of Architectural Design Market in China

Specifically include: current development state, change in development trend and regional

variations.

2) Players in Chinese Architectural Design Market

Specifically include: players and their situations in the market, current market share and

specific proportions.

3) Foreign Firms in Chinese Architectural Design Market Today

Specifically include: foreign architecture firms involved in China’s design companies,

problems they have encountered, concrete measures adopted and results.

III-2 Norwegian Architecture Firms

1) Characteristics of Norwegian Architecture Firms

Specifically include: specific aspects that Norwegian architecture firms are good at, their

design features and main design philosophies

2) Organizational Structure and Corporate Culture of Norwegian Architecture Firms

Specifically include: organizational characteristics of Norwegian architecture firms and

their corporate culture, etc.

3) Globalization Strategy of Norwegian Architecture Firms

Specifically include: Norwegian architecture firms face in other emerging markets, global

collaboration in their globalization strategy, etc.

Study Process

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III-3 Study of the Matching between Norwegian Architecture Firms and the Chinese market

1) Mutual Acceptance Level

Specifically include: knowledge of each other between Norwegian architects and Chinese

market, their interests in entering the Chinese market and driving target.

2) Strength of Norwegian Architects in the Chinese market

Specifically include: type and region of the Norwegian-designed projects, design concept,

overseas cooperation, etc.

3) Weakness Confronting Norwegian Architects in the Chinese market and Solutions

Specifically include: fee-charging methods, development models and communication

problems confronting Norwegian firms, and solutions, etc.

Based on the study into the three aspects above, we will give some specific recommendations

regarding the access of Norwegian architecture firms to the Chinese market and make a

summary at the end for consideration and deliberation by Norwegian firms and architects.

Study Process

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In response to the issues above, we conducted the following studies:

(A01) Data Research into Chinese Architectural Design Market

In this section we will present an analysis of the objective Internet and paper-based data

about the Chinese architectural design market, including yearbooks, reports published

by related consulting firms, part of Internet data and YCDA internal data

(A02) Investigation Made on the Internet into Norwegian Architecture Firms

We made a partial investigation into Norwegian architecture firms on the Internet,

including the organizational structure of Norwegian architecture firms, etc.

(A03) YCDA-based Architecture Forum

Based on the YCDA forum, we invited architects, consul general of Norwegian

Consulate and other insiders for the discussion on the access of foreign architects to

China.

(A04) Interviews with Foreign Firms Operating in China

We interviewed the foreign firms that operate in China, including firms from the

United States, Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands and other countries.

(A05) Interviews with Local Design Institutes (LDIs) in China

We interviewed LDIs, including large state-owned design firms and small to medium

firms concerning their cooperation with foreign companies.

(A06)Interviews with Chinese Developers and Government Representatives (Planning

Bureau)

We interviewed the parties involved in the architectural design market, including local

Chinese developers, contractors and government representatives.

(A07) Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

We made interviews and field investigations in Norway for a week, discussing the

ways and means in person with Norwegian architecture firms regarding their entry into

the Chinese market.

Based on the study results and related work about the seven aspects above, we have provided

a description in systematic manner regarding what Norwegian firms need to know about the

Chinese market before entering Chinese market, problems they may encounter, as well as

concrete suggestions for these problems.

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III. Study Results

The study results will be presented in three sections:

III-1 Architectural Design Market in China

1) Status quo and Development Trend of Architectural Design Market in

China

a. China is So Big

China is a large country with 1.3 billion population and an area of 9.6 million square

kilometers (compare to European with 7.4 billion population and an area of 10.18 million

square kilometers) and with great contrasts between different provinces. Culturally, the

differences between different provinces in China are much greater than the differences

between different countries in Europe in some cases. Therefore, the Chinese market cannot be

only understood at national level, but segment it down to the individual regions, provinces,

and even cities.

F02: Comparison of Europe and China

The table in the illustration shows the total construction volume and total architectural design

volume in the Chinese market

In terms of building types, nationally, residential buildings account for the largest share

(61.1%) of the total, and mainly in the developed coastal areas. For information about specific

analysis of regions and building types, please refer to the Appendix A01.

F03: total construction volume and total architectural design volume (2011)

Source: Construction year book of China, 2012

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According to the survey, the total number of Chinese construction companies reaches 72,280,

in which foreign-invested companies account for 331 (0.42%), and with a slight decrease in

recent years. In the architectural design industry, the number of foreign-invested companies is

also not high and with a lot of space for growth.

F04: Output value building industry (blue bars) and growth rate (red lines) 1998-2012

Source: Architecture research group of Global research

We can notice that Building Industry is growing dramatically fast in China, That’s a reason

why it’s a big market with great potential.

T01: China is so big

b. City Tier System in China

F05: First and Second-tier Cities

Based on China's economic development status and their positions in China, Chinese cities

are generally divided as follows: four first-tier cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and

Shenzhen), about ten second-tier cities (Hangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuhan,

Chongqing, Chengdu, Dalian, Shenyang and Qingdao). Generally, the first-tier cities are

usually considered as more mature markets, with large total volume and high degree of

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market diversification and internationalization. Nevertheless, there are also more prominent

problems, namely, slowdown in economic growth, relatively saturated and highly competitive

market. The second-tier cities are relatively less influential than the first-tier cities, and are

basically regional central cities. One of the differences between the first-tier cities and the

second-tier cities is the presence and absence of national influence in important industrial and

economic fields. According to this definition, naturally, Beijing is the political and cultural

center; and Shanghai the economic center, while Guangzhou and Shenzhen are the leading

cities in the fields of commerce and trade, and high-tech enterprises respectively.

F06: National and Regional central Cities

The classification above is carried out at economic level, and it will present a different picture

when classified at political level: National Central City and Regional Central City. The

former includes Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Tianjin and Guangzhou while the latter

includes Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chengdu, etc. Tianjin and Chongqing are not the first-tier cities

as we thought they are, but they really are China’s National Central Cities, while Shenzhen is

taken as a first-tier city, but with lower position at political level. Therefore, we can find the

differences in main architectural design market between different cities from the differences

between their political and economic positions. For example, Tianjin, high in political

positioning, but not strong enough in economic strength, will have a large number of

government-driven development projects; while Shenzhen, on the contrary, will enjoy the

development driven by more private capitals, such as cnS involved several private enterprise

headquarters projects in Shenzhen.

T02: Learn to interpret China at both political and economic

levels

c. China’s New Area

Projects in China are large in size because it is still in a stage of rapid development. As most

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of the key projects in China have already been completed, such as airport, large museum,

performance center, library, etc, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to acquire landmark

projects in the first-tier cities and the second-tier cities, but not exclude all possibilities. There

are also some projects for rapid construction in the new areas under the jurisdiction of the

first-tier cities (such as Binhai New Area in Tianjin, Qianhai New Area in Shenzhen, Nansha

New Area in Guangzhou). In these areas for fast construction, there are often some political

objectives, which usually facilitate the advancement of projects.

T03: Developing area and new city mean more opportunities

d. Non-first-tier Cities and Developing Provinces in China

F07: GDP and growth rates in 2011

(GDP : red bar: 1st-tier cities; blue bar:2

nd-tier cities)

(Growth rate: blue dot: 1st-tier cities; red dot:2

nd-tier cities)

Source: The Economist

As we mentioned before, city tier system in China is very evident. The figure above shows

that, despite the large GDP gap with the first-tier cities, the second-tier cities in China boast a

double-digit growth, implying possibility of rapid growth and certain market spaces.

In addition to the second-tier cities, some third-tier cities and less developed provinces also

have great development potentials. Among the third-tier cities, the rapidly developing

construction markets in Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces rank top all along for total amounts of

building construction contracts and have very promising prospects for development. As to

inland markets at the initial growth stage, thanks to the rapid development of high-speed

railway, markets in the Mid-South Region including Hunan and Hubei provinces are also

worth trying for long-term development in view of their great potential. Take Wuhan, the

capital city of Hubei Province, as an example.

R02: The government of Wuhan has been adopting real estate development as a way to stimulate the

growth of local economy, and has been promoting sales of large-scale reconstruction plots at relatively

low prices. Wuhan’s investment on the real estate market had seen a year-on-year growth rate of 25.9%

since 2000 and reached RMB127.4 Billion Yuan as of 2011.

-Wuhan WWC, by Jones Lang LaSalle.

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T04: Numerous opportunities in second-tier and third-tier cities and provinces

e. “XX Rush”(Trends) in China

The Chinese people are keen on following suits. There’s always some kind of “xx rush”

(Trends), so is in the building construction field. In past several years when museum

development became popular, almost all major cities were engaged in the museum design

rush. But when soon the trend changed to commercial complexes, plenty of capital quickly

turned to the commercial complex market. If the design firm could target on a particular

building type that is popular at the market, they are bound to obtain a lot of opportunities.

Currently the trend in China is office high-rise design.

R03: A survey recently released by Jones Lang LaSalle showed that, presently there are 15 approved

on-going super high-rise projects in China, of which only 4 are located in such first-tier cities as

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, while the other 11 are located in non-first-tier cities such

as Wuhan, Tianjin, Chongqing, Suzhou, Guiyang and Nanjing. “The development of super high-rises in

China, especially in recent years, has become a 'rush', i.e. with the market continues to heat up,

numerous super high-rises, completed or under construction, emerge in Shanghai, Guangzhou,

Shenzhen, Beijing, Nanjing, Wuhan, Wenzhou, and Jiangyin", says Li Canxing, South China Property

and Asset Management Director of Jones Lang LaSalle. According to information gathered by the

journalist of Southern Metropolis Daily, 10 skyscrapers that are higher than 500m are to be completed

in China by 2015, including the 838m high Changsha "J200 Project", the 650m high Guangzhou

Diamond Plaza, the 636m high Wuhan Greenland Center, the 632m high Shanghai Tower, the 588m

high Shenzhen PingAn Finance Center, the 570m high Goldin Finance 117 in Tianjin, and the 530m

high Guangzhou East Tower ... most of these “sky cities “are designed by foreign architects.

So what’s the next trend? In our report, we will present all possible answers from various

perspectives. Buildings for nursing, preschool education and feeder airport are all found with

great market potentials, while consumption facilities such as high-end hotels and resorts for

the emerging Chinese affluent will also be highly marketable.

T05: Keep up with the trend to yield twice the result with half the effort

f. Ecological Development in China

China, despite of its worst air pollution compared to other countries in the world, is an active

promoter for environmental protection. These environmental protection measures are

implemented specifically into the building construction level. The green building concept is

promoted by all local governments and developers, whether it’s just a concept or not.

Different from the European or American system, China implements the "3-star green

building system" as the official green building rating system. Of course LEED and BREEAM

systems are also implemented in China, but the "3-star green building system" is more

officially recognized. In China, buildings with "2-star green building" or higher rating can

usually be subsidized by the government.

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F08: Green building evaluation systems

R04. Give priority to public service buildings and large public buildings for promoting the green

concept. Office buildings and schools, hospitals, cultural and other public buildings funded by the

government, and affordable housing developed by governments of municipalities, municipalities with

independent planning status and capital cities, should take the lead to implement the green building

standards. Meanwhile, singular buildings like airports, railway stations, hotels, restaurants, shopping

malls, office buildings and similar large public buildings with more than 20,000sqm should also take

the lead in the implementation of green building standards.

-Green Building Action Plan

R05 Green buildings with 2-star or higher rating will be subsidized by the Government, specifically

RMB45Yuan/sqm for 2-star green buildings and RMB 80 Yuan/sqm for 3-star green buildings, in a bid

to compensate for the incremental cost on green building design and stimulate the initiative of clients

for green building development.

-Measures to Promote Green Building Development in Shenzhen (Draft)

T06: Green and ecological theme design shows promising future market growth

2) Players in Chinese s Architectural Design Market

a. Players

F09: Role of players in different market Left Foreign Right China

Players in Chinese architectural design market include the architect, the government, the

developer, and the construction contractor. Such division is of course not based on specific

division of work, since the government can also be a developer. A very important fact about

these players is: the position of the architects in China's architectural design market is not as

high as their peers in Europe and America. In the European or American system, the

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construction contractor is often under the unified command of the architect, but the Chinese

laws clearly forbid the architect to get involved in selecting project materials supplier or other

issues that may involve corruption.

T07: In China, architects do not determine material supplier

b. Architect

There are three types of architectural firms in the Chinese market, i.e. large state-owned

design institutes, small/medium-sized private design institutes, and foreign design firms.

Based on analysis of market research, there are total of 7,761 firms in China's building

industry, including 99 foreign firms registered in China, accounting for 1.28% of the total.

Among the 623,700 employees in China’s architectural design market, 13.08% are registered

practitioners, including over 13,000 first-class registered architects. Of the total value of

RMB32.6031 Billion Yuan for completed contracts, project design accounts for 26.20%. The

contract amount has seen steady growth year by year in recent years (2006-2011). The total

operating revenue of construction-related companies reached RMB388.8 Billion Yuan (2010)

following steady annual growth, of which the project design accounted for 18.78%. The per

capita revenue also increased steadily year by year to RMB632, 350 Yuan/ Person (2010).

F10: Market Data for Architectural Design Firms

Source: Construction year book of China, 2012

F11: Market Data for Architectural Design Firms

Source: Construction year book of China, 2012

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F12: Market Data for Architectural Design Firms

Source: Construction year book of China, 2012

For the top 30 Chinese design institutes in the architecture design field of civil buildings, the

per capita output reaches RMB1,000,000Yuan/Person at the maximum and

RMB300,000Yuan/Person at the minimum, mostly about RMB650,000Yuan/Person; for the

top 20 foreign design firms in China, the per capita output reaches

RMB1,000,000Yuan/Person at the maximum and RMB300,000Yuan/Person at the minimum,

mostly about RMB600,000 to 1,000,000Yuan/Person.

F13: Charts of per capita output for the selected Top design institutes

Source: Construction year book of China, 2012

F14: total operating income the selected Top design institutes

Source: Construction year book of China, 2012

c. Large Local Design Institute (LDI)

Each year’s market ranking for Chinese civil building design institutes sees a lot of local

design institutes. Some large LDIs, such as China Construction Design International (CCDI),

Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD), Shanghai Xian Dai Architectural Design

Institute (Group) Co., Ltd have completed a lot of design works in China. They are large in

size and have worked with many foreign firms on large projects in recent years, thus are very

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experienced.

F15: Logos of major LDIs

F16: The Rank of Top 30 LDIs

T08: There will be more opportunities when working with large LDIs

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d. Government

In China, the government is an unavoidable factor in the building market. China's government

organizational structure determines that the decisions for building projects are all made by the

"top leader". Such decision-making mode leads to that, if your design is satisfactory to certain

leaders, you can advance your project in no time; but if on the contrary, the project will be

beyond hope. And if the leadership who favors your design leaves his post due to corruption

or expiry of term, your project will be at high risk. Every five years, the Chinese government

undergoes a round of reshuffling. Such period is when all projects should be given

exceptional attention to.

C01. BIG, the renowned Danish firm, once designed a " " people building in Shanghai. The

Project was presented at the Shanghai Biennale and was highly praised by the leadership of Shanghai

at that time. Unfortunately, that leader was caught up for corruption, the Project then ended up with

nothing.

F17: Chen Liangyu and the building by BIG

T09: For government projects, the favor of the top leader is crucial

T10: For government projects, attention should be paid to the change of the leadership

e. Developer

F18: Logos of major Developers

The Chinese developers are the main force for project development in China. They engage

mainly in residential projects, but there are also exceptions. For example, Poly and R&F are

leaders in office building development, while Wanda and CR are professionals at commercial

complex development.

There are also developers who have not so large projects but can always invite in star

architects. For instance, SOHO China had managed to engage Zaha Hadid and Kengo Kuma

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in their large projects. The Norwegian architecture firms may try to contact developers of

such style.

In general, large developers always have a highly professional project management team.

There’s no need to worry about the communication with them during the collaboration. We’ve

also included our visit records to two Top-10 developers: Vanke and R&F in the Appendix

A06.

F19: Top-10 developers in China

Source: CRIC report 2013

Besides, there are also some small/medium-sized local developers who have plentiful capital

and are able to render more-than-average efforts on each project since they only implement a

few projects simultaneously. They are also worth trying if we can locate them via trustworthy

contacts and safeguard our interests. However, due to immature project management mode,

there might be various obstacles when working with them.

These obstacles include infinite risks and arbitrariness in real estate development in China,

where projects are oftentimes derailed by political issues or problems related to land and

approval procedures. Some projects are aborted due to fracture of capital chains. Therefore,

developers seldom sign contracts with the designers immediately but would expect them to

cooperate by providing some designs. In this case, the interests of the designers are not

properly secured. Many developers have no clear schedules for their projects and their project

management teams are short of experience, which is apt to cause changes and reversals in

designs.

S01. The best choice is to cooperate with developers of high market credibility and pick

appropriate types of projects. As regards cooperation with small- and medium-sized

developers, the designers have to evaluate the relevant risks repeatedly to choose the right

partners. For example, a trustful LDI can help on screening Clients and securing interests in

the process.

T11: Seize the opportunity to collaborate with large developers who are experienced

at international cooperation.

T12: There are many opportunities to work with small developers but it’s cautious

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to pick the right one.

f. Bid and Competitions

Bid and Competitions are common ways for foreign architects to get projects in China. So， it

is important to know the process of competitions.

Firstly, the development organization will publish the info of the competition online, usually

the website of the planning bureau. (e.g. Guangzhou: http://upo.gov.cn/ Shenzhen:

http://www.szdesigncenter.org/). For most of these competitions, foreign firms cannot join

them alone and they must alliance with qualified LDI. If the organizers are willing to invite

more international teams, they will contact Consulate General and ask for broadcasting the

news.

Secondly, the design firms and alliances will make registration packages including: Forms,

Agreements, Project Experience. Based on this, the Juries will discuss and select the

final-lists.

Thirdly, the design firms and alliances submit the competition packages before the deadline.

The Juries will evaluate the Technical Bid (Design, Function) and the Development Organizer

will also assess the Business Bid (overall cost and design fee proposal). The final score comes

from an addition at certain ratio of both parts (60% TB+40%BB, or based on the Organizer).

g. Agent Construction Contractor

Many government projects tend to adopt the "agent construction" mode, and it is a special

type of bid. i.e. the government commissions the developer to build some government

projects, while the developer can benefit from land premium via the commissioning. The

benefit of such approach for the government is that they’ll have a good team of professionals

to help them manage the project. But such construction projects usually implement stricter

cost control than government projects and allow no trans-normal practices. Therefore there’s

little room for design fee negotiation.

C02. The design competition at early 2013 for Shenzhen Pingshan Cultural Complex, an agent

construction of China Merchants Property, attracted a lot of design firms. Our design team included

SCUT, the Danish company Adept, façade consulting firm VSA, The Architectural Design & Research

Institute of Guangdong Province Branch of Shenzhen (SZGDI), and us Atelier cnS. We were involved in

the whole bidding process. Although our team ranked the third place in the end, it was a good

opportunity to learn about the whole procedures of such type of project.

It is worth mentioning that collaboration among several entities was required in the

Instructions for Bidders for this project to ensure diversity of the design team. Our team was

highly diversified, including a design team from North Europe, a large LDI, a local design

company and a specialized façade consulting company. Such a team was established in

consideration that as for a regional cultural center, we had to draw on domestic and foreign

advanced design concepts (Adept／cnS) and we also needed the technical support of a large

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design Institute (SCUT) for such a colossal public building. Moreover, the Shenzhen

government has promulgated some regulations on local projects, which prescribe cooperation

with the local design institutes (SZGDI). In addition, the Agent Construction Contractor

Merchants Property Development CO., Ltd., one of the largest property developers in

Shenzhen, specified in the bid Invitation documents that this was a quota design that should

not use ultra-expensive materials and excessively complex shape and cladding, which

prompted us to invite VSA as our curtain wall consultant. The biggest gain we obtained from

participation in this project is that we find it necessary to cooperate with companies of

different types and different natures to meet the complicated requirements for the projects.

T13: Negotiating in government project is easier than developer’s

3) Foreign Firms Practicing in the Chinese Architectural Design Market

a. Overview

At present, it is impossible to collect accurate statistics about the number and output value of

foreign firms practicing in China in that they are involved to different extents and at different

stages in the projects. Some foreign firms act as consultants in the projects and some others

are invited by LDIs to join the projects without being mentioned in the contracts. The

statistics currently available show that among the foreign firms registered in China, the top 20

according to the market survey have a per capita output of RMB300,000 to 1,000,000 Yuan,

mostly ranging between RMB600,000 Yuan and RMB1,000,000 Yuan, which exhibits no

obvious edge over the large LDIs. This survey, covering only the branches of foreign firms in

China, is not a complete representation of the foreign firms’ income from China. In contrast,

the WA100 ranking list on the BDonline website http://www.bdonline.co.uk/ reveals that

the top American and European firms maintain a per capita output between RMB 2 million

Yuan to RMB 2.5 million Yuan.

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F20: Marketing Data of foreign firms in China

Source: Construction year book of China, 2012

F21: the WA100 ranking list (2011)

Source: http://www.bdonline.co.uk/

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F22: Logos of foreign firms in China

b. Unavoidable LDI

F23 Unavoidable LDI

Due to the policy requirements, a local institute must be involved in the construction project’s

permit approval and preparation of construction drawings for any project in China, whence

the unavoidable cooperation with LDIs on the Chinese projects. Many government projects

require that each foreign firm join hands with a class-A LDI from the conceptual phase to

ensure a solid groundwork for subsequent cooperation after the contract is awarded. In the

process of cooperation, the foreign firm can negotiate with the LDI about the distribution of

fees for each stage. Bids for any large project are subject to pre-qualification process which is

focused on the design experience of the consortiums and the strength of the LDIs.

The strengths of the LDIs lie in their familiarity of the Chinese codes and policies and their

experience with the Chinese market. Moreover, as some large LDIs have rich experience in

international cooperation and by consulting other architects, the good LDIs are quick at

picking up new technologies and new methodology; it will not take too much time to build

chemistry with them even if they have to work on different platforms. Therefore, a good LDI

partner is of paramount importance to a foreign firm’s development in China.

According to our interviews with the LDIs, in most cases, the partnership between the foreign

architecture firm and the LDI is not a fruit of “free love” but rather a marriage arranged by the

developer. Many LDIs have not only plentiful local experience but also experience in

cooperation with design firms from different countries.

Where a foreign firm has established a long-term partnership with a LDI, if the developer

designates another LDI for the project, the foreign firm should respect the developer’s

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decision and accept the arranged cooperation; whereas if no LDI has been appointed, the

foreign firm should proactively recommend its partner to the developer. However, it would be

best to cooperate with a most influential LDI in the same city as the project. Generally

speaking, each LDI may have established cooperative relationships with quite a few foreign

firms and vice versa.

c. Main working modes

Foreign firms usually enter into the Chinese market by the following means:

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Mode 1

F24 Open a small office in LDI

When there are only a handful of projects in construction, a few architects rent a small

office in the LDI’s building, just as the British firm Zaha Hadid did before the completion

of the Guangzhou Opera House.

Advantages: 1.Cost-saving, 2. Conducive to effective communication with the LDI 3.

Allowing expeditious setup of an office;

Disadvantage: 1. Difficult to establish a presentable image, renders only inferior

working conditions, 2. entails certain constraints in developing new projects due to the

binding relationship with the LDI.

At the early stage of exploration into the Chinese market, Norwegian firms may copy this

strategy if they have only a couple of projects that require close cooperation with the LDIs.

By seconding architects from the HQ and recruiting from the local market, they can have

satisfactory interactions about the projects with their HQ. They may also recruit local

employees for liaison with the HQ but the HQ designers travelling to the site of the project

should be able to work at the local office for the time being. Therefore, it is suggested that the

office be located in the same city as the project.

The advantage of this mode is that it is cost-saving, conducive to effective communication

with the LDI and allowing expeditious setup of an office; whereas the disadvantage is that it

makes it difficult to establish a presentable image, renders only inferior working conditions,

and entails certain constraints in developing new projects due to the binding relationship with

the LDI.

In the beginning, ZHA have a 20 sqm office inside the LDI’s office and sending Architects

from the London Office. They also hire new Chinese graduates from AA (an architectural

school in the UK) for this project and send them to Guangzhou. This temporary office in

Guangzhou helped them worked closely with LDI and on Site. When ZHA get more projects,

it moves the Office to Beijing.

Even if some projects are only in Schematic Design stage, open a small office in LDIs’ offices

is a cost-saving way. RBA (Ruggero Baldasso Architects) won some competition associated

with the Design Institute of SCUT, and its China Office locates in a building of SCUT.

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Mode 2

F25: Open a branch office in China

A company is established in China but only for exploration and maintenance of customer

relationships whereas most design is still completed by the headquarters, just as the

American firm KPF does in China.

Advantages: 1.Conducive to advancing the projects and exploring the market in China. 2.

Since the project design is still done by the HQ in Norway, it helps guarantee the design

quality for the Chinese Market.

Disadvantages: 1. The Norwegian firm may have difficulty incorporating design into the

China branch and still have glitches in the actual communication with the developer. 2.

Since the design is still done in Norway, it is hard to control design costs, which forces the

firm to work with powerful developers only.

Norwegian firms which have attained a certain level of development may follow this strategy.

Having a branch in China is conducive to advancing the projects and exploring the market in

China. Besides, since the project design is still done by the HQ in Norway, it helps guarantee

the design quality for the Chinese Market. However, this mode has its drawback: the

Norwegian firm may have difficulty incorporating design into the China branch and still have

glitches in the actual communication with the developer. Since the design is still done in

Norway, it is hard to control design costs, which forces the firm to work with powerful

developers only.

KPF have branches all over the world. However, basically all the important design were done

in the headquarter New York office, which has 150 architects. Employees in the branch

offices are mostly working on coordination and public relation. In Greater China area, they

have offices in Shanghai and China.

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Mode 3

F26: Associate with local partner

A person with in-depth understanding of the Chinese market is hired as a partner for

China to take charge of the business here, just as the Danish firm Adept does in China.

Advantages: 1.Good interaction, 2.Easy to open new market, 3. Benefit each other.

Disadvantages: 1. Hard to find the right person. 2. Needs support from Home Countries 3.

design cost is still high

In comparison with the previous two modes, this one can facilitate interaction with the

Chinese market and given a person of strong competence, he can open up the Chinese market

by means of his own connections. This downside of this mode lies in the onerous quest for the

right person. Even given such a person, he still needs the support from Norway to see the

projects in China through completion and therefore the design cost is not effectively cut

down.

Adept is a young firm in Denmark, they met Aidi Su when they worked together on a

competition in Shenzhen in 2010. Aidi is a Taiwanese American, worked in the US and China.

Partners of Adept trust Aidi in his abilities and experience, and appointed him as the Partner

(China). 2 years since then, the China office runs very well, won many competitions, and

grow in to a studio with 20 staff.

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Mode 4

F27: Work closely or Purchase a small local firm

A small domestic design team is taken over as a branch in China.

Advantages: 1. better support to the projects in China 2. Effectively enables the

Norwegian firm to cut down design costs.

Disadvantages: 1.Hard to maintain the design quality 2. The local design team can play

only a limited role 3. Unstable talented Designers

The upside of this mode is that having a local team to provide better support to the projects in

China effectively enables the Norwegian firm to cut down design costs and expand its

acceptable range of design fees through internal allocation of design tasks at different stages.

However, the problem here is that the Norwegian firm has to invest loads of manpower and

resources to maintain the design quality of the local team and that some demanding

developers nurse suspicions about the localized team. In addition, if the local design team is

not qualified to issue design drawings, it can play only a limited role in facilitating

completion of high-quality projects.

This mode is hard to cite a famous example, but it really happens a lot. A good small local

firm means a group of talented designer. Such an investment is not on some “Qualifications”

but on “Human Resources”. In this case, the local design team will be transformed to the

China office of a foreign firm.

In such a process, some members in the original team may leave if they share different values

or they can have better income in some other places.

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Mode 5

F28: Associate with LDI

A partnership is sealed with a large domestic design institute that is responsible for

marketing and promotion, and the LDI will take charge of the construction drawings upon

completion of the conceptual plan stage.

Advantages: 1. Maximize the strengths of both parties. 2. with qualification to do

architectural projects in the whole process.

Disadvantages: 1. have to negotiate on the allocation of design fee 2. Foreign firm has to

spend more time and effort to supervise construction drawings to maintain quality.

This mode helps realize interaction and complementation of strengths. The LDI can focus on

the construction drawings and other technical tasks whereas the Norwegian firm on creative

design to maximize the strengths of both parties. However, this mode is more demanding on

building good relationship with the LDI. On the one hand, both parties have to negotiate on

the allocation of design fee between creative design and preparation of construction drawings;

on the other hand, the foreign firm has to spend more time and effort to follow up the details

of the construction drawings provided by the LDI to prevent any deviation from the schematic

design.

This mode is the most general case, and it may have the 3 following situations.

1. LDIs leading the cooperation:

In this case, there is a strong LDI and a young foreign firm, who is talented but may not

have any built projects and new to China market.

2. Foreign firms leading the cooperation

In this case, there is a world famous design firm and an average LDI, whose task is assist

the star architects to achieve their big ego in China

3. Find a balance point.

In this case, the both parties are professional teams with strong experience, and they have

long term cooperation. Such as GMP and ADRISCUT, Foster and BIAD, they will find

good balance point in their relationships.

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Mode 6

A class-A LDI is totally acquired by the multinational design group to solve

root-and-branch the conflicts between foreign firm and LDIs, just as Aecom acquired a

class-A design institute in Shenzhen.

Advantages: 1. completely localization. 2. Fully Control.

Disadvantages: 1. requires a large upfront investment and high operating costs. 2. It is

hard to keep design quality at the same level with each of the internal teams.

This is a practice of thorough localization. In comparison with the previous modes, this one

avoids the issue of quality control on design and is conducive to controlling design costs and

boosting completion of projects. However, its downsides are in plain sight: it is made more

for large design firms in that it requires a large upfront investment and high operating costs

and as a company grows in size, it loses its agility and has a hard time controlling design

quality of each of the internal teams.

Aecom is a world leading design group, it purchase a Class-A design institute Citymark in

2007 in Shenzhen.

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Other Possible Modes

There are some other working modes worth mentioning, one is a foreign designer or a

team hired by Chinese LDI. In this mode they don’t need to worry about the office operating

and they can focus on design in a better way. In A03, Alonso Laybarra and Teamer Design

shared story on their cooperation.

____________________________________________________

Each mode has experience of success and failure so the best choice should be based

on actual conditions.

T14: Choose a suitable mode of working in China

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d. Fierce competition in the first-tier cities

Generally speaking, the first stops of the foreign firms entering the Chinese market are

usually in Beijing, Shanghai and other first-tier cities on account of the following reasons:

these cities are more advanced in economic development, more receptive to new ideas and

new technologies, higher in concentration of foreign investment and in better accord with the

international requirements in terms of LDIs and other aspects. However, it is exactly because

of these advantages and the rapid development in the past decades, the architecture market in

these first-tier cities has bred some problems.

Now that all the foreign investors choose these cities for entrance to the Chinese market, the

competition there has become a cut-throat game. In addition, some early arrivers have

garnered years of experience and built up extensive network, thus leaving less space for the

late comers. Of course, there is still chance but not like that whereby some international

design firms snatched the projects simply by presenting a few renderings 20 years ago. As the

market is more and more segmented, there is bound to be even fiercer competition. In chapter

III-1-2)-f. we introduced the general Process of Bid in China.

C03. In September 2013, Guangzhou launched an international design competition for “Three

Museums and One Square”, which is a rare, significant and great cultural complex project situated at

an important location in the center of the city. This competition attracted more than 100 design firms

and consortiums, from which eight were selected. We can tell from the list of final candidates that these

eight design teams are from eight countries, a conspicuous intent to maintain regional balance.

List of Final Candidates for the Project of Three Museums and One Square

1. Architectural Design Research Institute of South China University of Technology

(ADRISCUT);

2. UN Studio (Shanghai) Limited & Central-South Architectural Design Institute Co., Ltd;

3. Herzog + Partners Asia Limited Liability Partnership;

4. Jacques Ferrier Architectures, Shanghai Minax Architecture Design Firm &AgenceTer

(Alliance Contestants);

5. The Beijing Institute of Architectural Design. Co. Ltd (BIAD) and Miralles/ Tagliabue -

EMBT (Alliance Contestants);

6. Christian Kerez Zurich AG, Vogt Landschaftsarchitekten Ltd and Tongji Architectural

Design (Group) Co.,Ltd (TJAD) (Alliance Contestants);

7. Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP (Shanghai);

8. David Chipperfield Architects Gesellschaft von ArchitektenmbH&Huasen Architectural &

Engineering Designing Consultants Ltd. (HSA), (Alliance Contestants).

T15: Chinese competition committee selects a diversified country often list of participants

e. Common traits of successful foreign firms

From our interviews with other foreign architectural design firms that have entered China, we

discover that those winning out in the Chinese market mostly share the following three traits:

first, they have been operating here for a long time and had better understanding of China;

second, they have special edges either in certain fields or in other aspects (e.g. special

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technologies, or proficiency in dealing with certain type of buildings); third, they are

generally adept at boosting their power of influence.

F30: traits of successful of foreign firms

We can find many foreign firms who succeed in China Market are outstanding in at least one

of the 3 aspects. For example, SBA is one of those early arrivers familiar with China and the

partner of its China branch was brought up under the Chinese education system and can

handle many project relationships deftly. Among those adept at building brand are quite a few

Italian firms, for example, the AM Firm we interviewed. It tries to entrench its image as the

representative design firm of Milan. One of those renown in specific fields is Adrian Smith,

an expert in high-rise buildings and the architect of Jin Mao Tower in Pudong District,

Shanghai. He made a name for himself in this field even before the topping out of this

landmark building.

C04: For example, the Hong Kong architecture firms are basically stereotyped as targeting at large

commercial complex invested by Hong Kong investors(such as the Swire Group), which invested

tremendous capital in China at the end of last century, in that the Hong Kong firms have the natural

advantage of language and thereby gain. The successful Hong Kong companies in this area include

Oval and Aedas, both of whom have built long-term cooperative relationships with Swire Group and

Hang Lung Properties Limited and engaged in numerous commercial property projects in Chinese

Mainland.

T16: Focus on your own competitive edge.

f. Influence boosting methods of successful foreign firms

Influence of foreign firms can be analyzed from the following aspects:

The lighthouse effect upon completion of a project is particularly obvious in the Chinese

market in that the completed project may be visited by government officials and

developers from other cities and thereby brings about more projects.

Generally speaking, in a country of vast territory like China, the regional radiation

capacity of a project is most likely to bring about another project in the surrounding

regions. For example, if the first project is in Guangzhou, the opportunity for the next one

will probably show up in Foshan, Dongguan, Shenzhen, Zhuhai or as far away as Guangxi

or Hunan.

The influence of a project has little to do with its size. Small as some projects are, if they

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are considered landmarks, or associated with some major events, or invested with some

political or cultural significance, they will be endowed with international influence, such

as some post-earthquake projects or projects in areas of spectacular landscape or ethnic

minorities. However, as regards the Chinese projects, it is worth advising that some

“politically sensitive” topics may influence not only the project itself but also the overall

business development of the country concerned in China.

Although landmarks are not economically lucrative, they have massive influence and

radiation capacity. It is exactly through the Guangzhou Opera House that Zaha Hadid’s

firm opened the door to the Chinese market.

T17: To succeed, the first built project is most important.

T18: Influence matters more than size.

g. Factors behind the influence of successful foreign firms

Education

The great development of architecture in China is all-directional and drives the fast

development of architectural education. We notice that the success of some foreign firms in

the Chinese market is inseparable with the far-reaching influence of their home countries on

China. Education is an important factor that endows the architects of some countries with

extra influence.

Since the 1980s, the Great Britain has incorporated architectural education into its overall

education industry and enrolled large numbers of international students. The export of

architectural education not only vitalizing domestic economy but also plays a critical role in

the export of its design industry. Presently, the British firms active in China hire numerous

architecture graduates from England, who also work as marketing agents for these firms to

recruit for projects in China.

C05: AA School of Architecture in UK is known in the circle of architects for producing a number of

Puliceke Architecture Award winners. With a global reputation, it develops an extensive and thorough

fusion of education and market by virtue of its ever-expanding alumni network. Large numbers of AA

architecture students return to their homelands and work in the academic field to push forward the

relevant education, whence the world-wide emergence of visiting schools which in turn supply many

students back to AA. Besides, many AA graduates from the visiting schools work in such firms as Zaha

Hadid or establish their own firms, which then ooze the academic influence of AA into the market. This

visiting school system benefits not only the education industry of AA but also the AA graduates’ market

exploration in China, though through a rather slow process.

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F31: AA visiting schools

As is mentioned above, AA graduates rely on the school for market exploration, which may

also be achieved by integrating business of large firms with education and academics.

C06: The large German firm GMP International GmbH recruits architects from all over the world to

establish a quasi-academic organization AAC for expansion of its influence. Every year, AAC recruits

from the Chinese emerging market a certain number of architects, who are gathered together to work

on academic design issues encountered by GMP. These architects’ study in AAC not only enriches

GMP’s research materials but also expands its influence in the emerging market.

F32: GMP AAC

As far as we know, in recent years, the Norwegian Bergen Architecture School has often

provided workshops in Guangzhou with a view to improving the living conditions of migrant

workers in the urban villages and thereby established close relationships with the local

schools, such as South China University of Technology (SCUT), South China Agricultural

University (SCAU) and Guangzhou University (GU). In the meantime, the teachers and

students of the local schools are offered the opportunities to visit Norway. In this process,

both Bergen and the local schools acquire better understanding of each other and many

students conceive the desire to pursue further education in Norway. However, such activities

have only limited influence and take a long time to produce the desired effect.

F33: BAS visiting China

T19: It is of great meaning for professional architects to engage

in academics and Education.

S02: Academic exchange, in spite of its diminutive effect in the short term, may in the long

run have strong and far-reaching influence on the potential partners for future cooperation.

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Promotion (biennial exhibition, design forum, magazine)

Exhibition and forum are two effective ways used by most of the thriving foreign firms we

surveyed to boost their influence in China. The most successful exhibition in the world is the

Italian La Biennale di Venezia, which offers an opportunity for the Italian architects to exhibit

their works and for the Italian building-related manufacturers to win projects from China.

Other influential biennial architectural design exhibitions hosted in Chinese Mainland include

Shenzhen Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture (UABB) and similar

exhibitions in Beijing and Shanghai. UABB was first launched in 2005 and held for the fifth

time this year. In this year’s exhibition, the Consulate of Sweden organized a theme

exhibition: “Swedish Hall • Stockholm on the Move”. In the past, Netherland and other

countries also promoted their own designs and young designers on this platform.

By participating in these exhibitions, architects may gain extensive media exposure which is

good for escalating their fame, establish connections with the LDIs through communication

with their Chinese counterparts joining the events, and even get business opportunities from

the developers searching for partners on these occasions.

S03: Partake in some carefully selected promotion events, provide eye-catching topics with

great business potential as well as some publicity build-up to the events beforehand to attract

as many visitors from the target groups as possible, and conduct follow-up visits after closure

of the events.

F34: Promotions (biennial exhibition, design forum)

Magazine is another major breakthrough for promotion. Italy has some most famous

magazines, such as Domus and the U.S. also has Architectural Record, etc. These magazines

are no doubt an effective means of promotion for the architectural industry of their countries.

Although many magazines are fairly internationalized, they are unavoidably biased towards

the architecture of their own countries in their coverage and most of them have issued their

Chinese versions. We have found some Spanish magazines at the developers’ offices in some

second- and third-line cities, which show their desire to understand the Spanish architects

through these magazines, and they also want to pick up some tips from us on the Spanish

architects putting out their feelers to the Chinese market.

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F35: Magazines promoting architects

T20: Participate in influential exhibitions and forums.

T21: Publish more articles on the authoritative influential magazines.

h. How do the foreign architects look at China?

How the foreign architects look at China is another topic of special concern. As per our

interviews, the successful foreign firms have a more positive impression of China in reality

than in their imagination. In general, the foreign architects consider the economic and cultural

environment in China acceptable but they still feel in their cooperation with the Chinese

architects or developers some gaps that stem from cultural differences and unsynchronized

pace of cooperation.

There is a book called “You Can’t Change China, China Changes You”, by a Dutch

Architects, John van de Water. It’s a semi-autobiography and documentary of his experience

in China since 2004. From this book, we can find a lot of resemblances about western

architects in the China Market.

T22: Instill more positive energy.

The problems are concentrated in the following aspects:

First of all, it comes to communication. Brought up in the reserved cultural traditions of East

Asia, domestic professionals tend not to directly express their oppositions, whereas

westerners are more straightforward in this respect. This difference in communication styles

impedes the progress towards agreement. Besides, the foreign architects may have different

esthetic tastes and standards from the domestic developer and in this case, even though the

Chinese and foreign architects see eye to eye with each other, the design may not be accepted

by the developer. Moreover, the periods of responsibility of the Chinese and foreign architects

are out of sync, in that the foreign architects usually follow through a project from the very

beginning through the commissioning of the building step by step whereas the Chinese

architects need quickly shift work from different project in the same time. From the foreign

architects’ perspective, this is a matter of sense of responsibility, whereas in the view of their

Chinese counterparts, such difference in the periods of responsibility is determined by the

overall market environment and should not be imputed to the role of architects.

T23: Understand the Chinese way of communicating.

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The second is related to the Chinese architectural regulations, a frequent subject of criticism

by the foreign firms. Buildings are products of distinct local features. For example, for the

same structural design, the minimum size of concrete columns required by China is much

bigger than that by Japan. Without such knowledge, the foreign architects are apt to make

similar mistakes.

The last are delayed schedules and slow payment of design fees. Architectural design is a type

of social behavior which is not only related to specific individuals but also driven or

restrained by culture. All issues discussed above are associated with the difference between

the societies of China and other countries concerned, which implies that some cooperation

problems are impossible to be solved in a minute or once and for all but must be worked off

by the architects through assimilation and adaptation.

T24: Laws, poor planning of the projects, delayed payment of design

fees are the major issues faced by foreign firms in China.

Of course, in the face of the problems discussed above, most of the architects interviewed

remain positive and have their own solutions. Many respondents mentioned that a good local

partner can come up with good suggestions to avert such problems.

S04: The local partners can help the foreign firms to communicate in a more effective way by

advising on when to say and what to say while dealing with the developers and to avoid

conflicts with codes and technical specifications by informing them of the local provisions

related to their designs. In case of any delayed schedule, they may remind their foreign

partners in advance and urge the developers to pay for the design fees on time.

T25: A good local partner is very important.

e. New trends of the Chinese market for foreign firms

Since other foreign design firms have been operating in China for many years, the Chinese

government agencies and developers, especially those in the coastal developed regions and

big cities, have outgrown the stage of worshiping foreign products and fawning on foreigners

but rather conduct purposeful studies to search for the right design partners. With the

ceaseless development of China’s economy, there appears a conspicuous trend especially in

some coastal cities that the government and developers are becoming more and more

professional and the Chinese market is more and more tend to choose the appropriate

architects to design the projects they are best at.

C07: For example, in our interview with the design manager of Vanke, we were told that to choose a

designer for a project, they first find some relevant cases in light of the special features of the project,

note down the designers involved therein, then contact and investigate the appropriate designers in

view of the budget and market position of the project, and finally pick out the design firm on the basis

of the investigation reports. It is obvious that they make a targeted selection of design firms. They look

for the most suitable designers according to the type and style of the project, with design fee left out of

the list of most decisive factors in the entire decision-making process. For example, Vanke Xiamen

engaged the renowned American architect Robert Stern in spite of the rocket-high design fees, but his

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involvement did substantially enhance the value of the design which enabled the project to be sold at

2.5 times the price of those on the neighboring plots. Vanke is the largest developer in China and has

the most mature development mode. Their practice is in large measure representative of the trend in

China.

Besides the search for appropriate designers, players in China’s architectural market also lay

eyes on some young architecture firms with potential and specialties, which, according to an

emerging view of the Chinese market, thirsty for opportunities, if offered some tasks, will

rack their brains to bring out some brilliant designs. It is exactly out of this consideration,

they will select from some young firms, in the hope of obtaining a quality design at a lower

price. There are two noteworthy cases: the first being CCDI, the largest architecture institute

in China, in a global search for firms with design capability for cooperation, and the second

being Vanke’s targeted search for some young Dutch firms to design for their projects.

C08: The relevant executives of CCDI mentioned that they target the small and medium firms with a

headcount of 10-50 and conclude with them a strategic partnership of the following two components:

first, CCDI will offer projects to the foreign firms attempting to enter the Chinese market by matching

the projects with the right firms according to the properties of the projects and the specialties of the

firms; second, the foreign firms which have signed strategic cooperation agreements with CCDI should

entitle CCDI take charge of the detailed and final-stage designs for all the projects awarded to them

after they enter China (especially those introduced by CCDI).

C09: The design manager of Vanke also mentioned that they purposefully search for some obscure

Dutch firms to work on the designs and that they also want us to provide some information about some

talented but lesser-known young firms for cooperation. For them, to scout for these design firms is a

type of investment and a way to enrich their design resources.

T26: Chinese market begins to put more and more premium on choosing the right architect.

T27: Young firms also have many opportunities.

S05: On the basis of the new trends currently identified, we conclude that the developers are

becoming more and more professional in selecting design firms, which requires the foreign

firms to develop exceptional features and allows opportunities to excellent young architects.

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III-2 Norwegian architects

When we finish summarizing the Chinese market of architectural design, we need to get to

know Norwegian architects. Most project team members knew very little of Norwegian

architects before the project were started. However, when we studied carefully, we discovered

how idealistic and how keen on design they are. Of course, in this Chapter, we still tried to

understand Norwegian architects in a Chinese way, through this, we hope, would help

Norwegian architects to fit in and cope with Chinese market better.

1) Design Features of Norwegian Architects

They respect environment and natural landscape and often take them as the major subject

of design and hence are adept at those projects closely related to natural landscape.

Norway is a country with superior natural environment and Norwegian people love nature,

so Norwegian architects have inherent connection with nature. Either lookouts on Fjords,

ski jumps in ski resorts, or recreational facilities on beaches are cleverly combined with

their surrounding environment and reflect architects’ respect and love for the environment.

F36: Landscape feature in Norwegian architecture

They are adept at the utilization of materials, and faithful to the essential character of

materials.

Due to the blessing of natural environment, Norwegian architects have access to a great

variety of materials, among which, wood is the most commonly used material in Norway.

Norwegian people tend to use all materials in the way of maintaining their original

properties and primary colors to the largest extent. The first impression of Oslo Airport

terminal is the utilization of materials in this way.

F37: Using of material in Oslo Airport

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They use humanistic care and design towards the perspectives of end users. These traits

are inherent to Norwegian people.

F38: Humanistic care in architectural design

C10: In the Group Meeting with Ratio Arkitekter AS, they mentioned when they were undertaking a

hospital project, they would listen to opinions from all kinds of end users, including doctors, nurses,

patients and their family members. Because only when users believe it is a good building, the building

is truly a success.

They are very experienced in project management, including construction safety, project

control, process management from conceptual design to implementation and

non-hierarchical team management.

C11: During the interview with Snøhetta, one point they are very proud of in their overseas project is

that, though these projects were undertaken in places with under developed construction technologies

and conditions, like Egypt and Middle East, they still managed to bring Norwegian project

management experience there and trained local construction firms to ensure the safety, reliable and

high quality construction.

F39: Construction site of Bibliotech Alexandria

They are experienced in the fields of energy-saving and green building and full life cycle

maintenance.

As a country of high latitude, it is very important to emphasize energy conservation and

Norway is an advanced country in this regard. Most Norwegian design firms have

introduced Building Information Modeling (BIM) system and realized building life-cycle

management. Although it means larger initial investment, it helps maintain long-term

benefits. In addition, Norwegian architects’ pursuit of high quality of life is also reflected

in the buildings they designed.

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F40: Sustainable housing design in Norway

T28: Architectural Design from the perspective of natural scenery

T29: Wood is luxury in China

T30: To describe Norwegian architecture as beautiful as Norwegian landscape.

2) Organizational Structure and Corporate Culture of Norwegian Architecture

Firms

a. Small Firms, Big Ideas

We interviewed several Norwegian design firms, among which, firms with staff from 20 to

140 people are rather big firms in Norway. According to an internet survey, most Norwegian

architecture firms have less than 20 employees. As compared to their Chinese counterparts,

they are quite small in scale. We also found that mobility in Norwegian firms is not high,

many people work in one firm for a long time, and therefore the average age of Norwegian

architecture firms is over 35 years old, which means these firms have a lot of experienced

architects to ensure the quality of design. Male to female ratio in Norwegian firms is usually

close to 1:1, and employees tend to be from different nationalities. They usually do not recruit

a lot of interns, for example, Snøhetta, with total number of employees over 100, has only two

interns currently.

Norwegian firms are usually small, but highly creative, without exception. Most projects are

completed by rather small firms. This is greatly different from Chinese architectural design

firms which mostly have more than one hundred employees.

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F41: Difference in management structures (Left: up, Right: down)

b. Design Fee and Income

Norwegian architects charges a higher design fee than their peers from other countries. This is

related with the highly advanced Norwegian domestic economic development on one hand

and corresponding with higher productivity of Norwegian architects on the other. This high

efficiency comes from the flat decision-making structure in Norwegian design firms:

Everyone in the basic level of the team can make quite a lot of decisions, avoiding the waste

of time and efforts in acquiring approvals from higher levels.

After interviews with a number of design firms, we discovered a unique phenomenon, which

is that, due to the egalitarianism in Norwegian society, citizens’ income gap is not large. Take

architects as an example: the annual income of a Norwegian architect is usually between 400,

000 to 1 million NOK, with very few lower or higher than this range. It is true that the income

level of Norway’s architects or draftsmen of junior level is higher than their counterparts in

the rest of the world, but the income level of architects of senior level is not much higher than

those in other countries. In China, a lot of senior architects’ annual income is almost

equivalent to Norwegian senior architects and even in some of Chinese commercial design

institutes; the annual income of design directors can be as high as 3 million RMB. Therefore,

the policy Chinese developers may take, from the perspective of economic benefit, is to

reduce the labor hours of Norwegian architects of junior level in cooperation and to transfer

their part of work to other LDI s.

S06: From the angle of Norwegian design firms, the policy they could take is to focus on

design works at initial project phases (conceptual design and schematic design), where

Norwegian firms advantages can be best played in these intelligence-intensive design phases,

and to reduce participation in works of latter phases.

T31: The income structure of Chinese architects is a pyramid

c. Cooperation

As a small country, Norway emphasizes training the ability of cooperation of its junior

citizens. Different firms play different parts in a big project and satisfy the need of big

projects through high-quality design. Norwegian firms are actually experienced in big

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projects, like airports, hospital complex, etc, with areas of hundreds of thousand square

meters.

For example, when Nordic introduced their project experience, they mentioned their close

cooperation with engineers of various disciplines in airport project, while Ramboll itself is a

large engineering consulting firm.

d. Anti-Corruption

Norway is one of the world's least corrupt societies and Norwegian companies are very

reluctant to bring themselves to a place where corruption occurs as daily phenomenon. If

there is corruption or transactions under the table, the company client will be imprisoned. But

in Chinese engineering practice, there is often internal deals happening and some foreign

architects are involved in political scandals when they are even not aware of it.

3) Norwegian architects’ globalization strategy

a. Current Status of Globalization Strategy

We noticed that the development of Norwegian firms’ projects overseas is relatively later than

other countries. We believe there are several reasons according to our analysis:

Not like other Nordic firms, Norwegian firms can find enough local projects and with the

continuous growth of Norway’s economy, Norwegian architects’ livelihood would not be

affected even without overseas markets.

b. Global Development is Unavoidable

No matter how inactive Norwegian architects are in terms of overseas development as

compared with other countries, as a developed country, Norway and the Norwegian design

have a worldwide influence. Norwegian architects are also making preparations for active

development of overseas markets. The reasons are quite obvious:

Firstly, Norway is still a relatively small domestic market, and it is not certain how long the

high speed growth of Norwegian domestic economy could last, therefore, expanding into new

markets is necessary in the long term.

Secondly, ambitious Norwegian architects also need to test themselves in international

challenges, so that their design talents can be acknowledged outside Norway.

The current focus of international markets are: China, Poland, Turkey, northern Russia (due to

climatic reasons), since these regions have rapidly growing economies.

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F43: Target markets of Norwegian architects

C12: Snøhetta was founded in Oslo in 1987 and established its reputation as the winner of the

competition for the Library of Alexandria in Egypt in 1989. It is now one of the top architecture firms

in the world. Snøhetta’s international projects include: the Art Museum at the World Trade Center site

in New York, the expansion of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and King Abdul-Aziz Centre

for World Culture.

F44: Snøhetta in globe

c. National-level Support

Norwegian firms’ global expansion has been supported by the state. The Innovation Norway

program on a national level is to promote the original design of Norway. Norway’s most

important projects in architecture and landscape architecture of international influence are the

18 national tourist routes, which helps improve national image and promote the achievements

of Norwegian architecture and landscape architecture and reflects the philosophy of

Norwegian architecture.

R07：Innovation Norway

Innovation Norway is a state-owned company started in 2004 that replaced four governmental

organizations. These organizations were: The Norwegian Tourist Board, The Norwegian Trade

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Council, The Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund, The Government Consultative

Office for Inventors. Innovation Norway has offices in all the Norwegian counties, with the head office

in Oslo. It also has offices in 30 countries and over 700 employees around the world. The goal of

Innovation Norway is to promote nationwide industrial development with focus on both business

economy and Norway’s national economy. It also has the goal of releasing the potential of the different

districts and regions in Norway by contributing to innovation, internationalization and promotion.

F45: Innovation Norway

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III-3 Study of the Matching between Norwegian architecture firms and

Chinese Market

1) Mutual Acceptance Level

a. What is China?

Just as Chinese people have merely ambiguous understanding on Norwegian design,

Norwegian architecture firms have relatively abstract impression about China, perhaps just

like most western countries. On the one hand, the Norwegian architects are attracted by

China's fast-growing economy and a lot of projects under rapid construction, while on the

other hand they are not sure about the opportunities of the construction projects in China due

to the defects with the country’s political, cultural and environmental protection system.

b. What Else besides Salmon?

Another fact we discovered during our interviews is, neither clients nor architects in China

have a clear picture of Norwegian architectural design and this may keep Norwegian firms

away from the potential opportunities. Therefore it is necessary for Norwegian firms to

enhance the publicity of their own architecture works in both academic and mass media. For

example, it’s a pity that, Chinese students in architecture departments even know very little of

Norwegian Pritzker Prize winner Sverre Fehn.

F46 Sverre Fehn and His Works

c. The Chinese Market is Simply Too Tempting

It is an unavoidable question as whether to enter the Chinese market against the backdrop of

globalization, given that China has 1/5 of the global population and is anticipated to become

the world's largest economy in 2020. A large number of construction projects took place in

China in last three decades. We could say, for Norwegian architecture firms, entering the

Chinese market is a must. But different from design firms from other countries, the

Norwegian firms’ expansion into the overseas market is not because of insufficient projects at

their domestic market. Instead, their participation in Chinese projects is an investment for the

future on the one hand and a way to improve global influence on the other. The potential

diversity of the Chinese market offers potential market for Norwegian architects who are

typically picky as a whole.

d. “Nordic” Design

For many Chinese, Denmark is known as the home country of Hans Christian Andersen's

Little Mermaid, Norway as the birthplace of Ibsen and Munch, Finland as the hometown of

Santa Claus, Sweden as the birthplace of Alfred Nobel, Iceland as a country with more than

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200 volcanoes and Nordic mythology as a peculiar system of Scandinavia deities; therefore,

the Northern Europe is regarded as a land of fairy tales, a model for other countries and the

future of the world. Many Chinese people are actually fascinated by the Nordic design (In

general, not single countries), and also hope their own country repeat the way of development

of Nordic countries. However, for most of them, Norway does not stand out with its own

characteristics; instead, they prefer the concept of Nordic countries as a whole.

F47: Nordic Designs and Chinese People buying them

T32: Chinese people love Nordic Designs

e. China is Repeating Norway’s Way of Development

China is now undergoing the change from a developing country to a developed country. Many

new types of projects that are likely to be generated by certain predicable development stage

in China actually fall within the leading expertise of the Norwegian firms. For example,

China, as an aging country, is facing growing future demand for hospitals and convalescent

homes over which the Norwegian firms have a competitive edge; moreover, the airport

network under construction in central and western China can also offer another big

opportunity for the Norwegian firms who are experienced at the airport design.

S07: For more details about the future of China, the foreign firms may read news about

China’s politics and economy and make some forecasts. For example, it has been reported

lately that the Chinese government will loosen the one-child policy, which may herald a baby

boom and a flourishing of preschool buildings in China. Anyone able to perceive the

opportunities behind such news is bound to have a head start in the competition for projects.

T33: Careful analysis on future market potential in China

f. China Group

Norwegians have already started their efforts on their expansion to Chinese market. A China

Group was founded by 8 Norwegian firms. Now they have a representative for business

development in China, who is responsible for presenting these Norwegian firms to various

clients. Members of China Group also visited potential clients and higher education

institutions in China so China Group could be more known to the Chinese people.

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F48: Group Meeting

g. Going to China

The Royal Norwegian embassy and consulates general in China have been committed to the

promotion of Norwegian architectural design in China and make it an important long-term

plan, which is led by the Royal Norwegian Consulate General in Guangzhou.

C13: In April 2013, the Royal Norwegian Consulate General organized the Norwegian architects’

delegation to China. The itinerary is rather diversified. The delegation took part in architecture

exhibition, academic and business seminars and meetings with developers and architecture firms in

four cities. The delegation was warmly received by the local professionals and the two sides discussed

on the future cooperation opportunities. Chinese media had quite a lot of coverage on this visit. China

Daily English version and some local media interviewed individual architects of the delegation.

F49: Norwegian Architects Delegation to China

2) Strength of Norwegian architects in China

a. Project typology

During the interviews with Norwegian firms, we could feel that many firms are experts in

certain fields hence are highly competitive globally in those domains. For example, Snøhetta

has prominent competitive edges in cultural complexes, Ratio in health care complexes,

Nordic in airports, and NielsTorp in airline headquarters. Therefore, each firm should target at

the projects that they are most adept to work with, so as to better play their strengths and

expertise and find clients with proper financial strength and aesthetic taste. In one word, they

hope to find the right clients in the field they are good at.

C14: NielsTorp shared with us the experiences on how they were awarded the Chinese project. Among

the many airline headquarters projects they have worked on throughout the past years, SAS

headquarters deeply impressed a delegation sent by China Eastern Airlines to visit reference projects

at different part of the world and draw on experiences for their new headquarters. After that the

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delegation had a meeting with NielsTorp design team and invited to participate in an international

design competition where NielsTorp stood out and won the project over other competitors.

T34: It is better to let the client find you than you find the client

From this example (which is also currently the biggest project Norwegian firms have ever

worked on in China), we could see it is an effective way to enter Chinese market via the field

one is best at.

S08: As regards how to prompt the developers to present themselves, we have to repeat the

prerequisite mentioned above that the designers have to ramp up their influence and develop

their distinctive design specialties.

F50: Headquarter of China Eastern Airlines

b. Regions of Projects

F51: Map of China with Highlighted Regions

As we analyzed in III-3, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, with mature markets and robust business

activities, rank top all along in terms of total contractual amounts of construction projects and

reveal very promising prospects. As to the inland markets which are still at the initial stage,

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the rapid development of high-speed railway brings great potential to markets in the

Mid-South Region including Hunan and Hubei provinces, and it is worth trying for long-term

development.

From the climatic point of view, projects in northern china might better fit the experiences

and expertise of the Norwegian firms in consideration of the geographic location of the

country the latter is from. Yet the nature-friendly and ecological design approach pursued by

the Norwegian firms could also be applied to other regions by employing the corresponding

eco-design philosophy. In this sense, the three northeastern provinces (Heilongjiang, Jilin and

Liaoning) and Inner Mongolia are more similar in latitude with northern Europe. The

industrial and natural resources in these provinces are relatively abundant. Though the three

northeastern provinces, as old industrial bases, were once stagnant, they are now undergoing

rapid development upon the completion of industrial restructuring. Inner Mongolia, with its

rich mineral resources, has been ranking among top provinces in the country in terms of

economic increments for several consecutive years. One of its cities, Erdos, once exceeded

Hong Kong in terms of GDP per capita and became the "China's richest cities". However, we

also noticed the so-called “ghost town” phenomenon in this city as result of irrational building

boom and insufficient population in its new district.

A similar case is Shanxi Province, a northern China province based on resource-oriented

economy. In addition to the similar latitude, another thing need to be noted is the difference

between the continental climate in northern China and the marine climate. Thanks to the

climatic adjustment effect of the ocean, the climate in Norway appears milder as compared to

that in northern China. Air quality and environmental pollution are two major problems that

cannot be ignored. Haze and high air pollution indexes across China would have adverse

impact on people’s health and the visual effect of projects.

c. Design Concepts

Among all the design philosophies practiced by the Norwegian architects, it is believed the

following are marketable in China based on our investigation:

Respect environment and natural landscape and often take them as the major subject of

design; be adept at the projects closely combined with natural landscape.

Humanistic care and design toward the end users; these traits are inherent to Norwegian

people.

Profound experiences in project management, including construction safety, project

control, process management from conceptual design through project implementation, as

well as the flat team management.

Experience with energy-efficient and green building design, and building maintenance

throughout the service life.

Norwegian architects shall further expand their influence in the following aspects:

As per discussions with Chinese clients, they all expect innovative designs from the foreign

design firms. This is no exception for Norwegian firms. Innovation could not only be in

building shape, but also in project organizational structure and the operation mode, where

Norwegian firms have inherent advantages.

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d. Chinese Design in Overseas Countries

There is another potential mode to cooperate with Chinese clients and partners. Since China

now has a large number of overseas projects, the Norwegian firms could work with the

Chinese partners on construction projects in the third countries. Norwegian architecture firms

are good at transplanting well-established project management models into the overseas

projects, which is also very valuable for the Chinese clients and partners.

R08 China has over 60 years’ of experiences on foreign aid projects. Nowadays, with China's growing

economic power, there are more and more foreign aid projects, mainly in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Such projects range from transportation, education, health care to cultural facilities, etc.

For example, China has developed a slew of residential projects in Algeria and invested in a number of

stadiums and gymnasiums in Nigeria. Now the Chinese investors are venturing into the developed

countries. The Chinese developer Vanke has recently bought a central plot in the downtown area of San

Francisco of the U.S. for a commercial property development project.

Source: http://yws.mofcom.gov.cn/

F52: Map of Chinese construction in overseas countries

S09: There are a lot in common between the building typology of China's overseas investment

projects and the fields that Norwegian firms are good at; hence there is great possibility of

cooperation in this aspect.

T35: Pay attention to China’s overseas investment

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3) Norwegian architects’ weaknesses and solutions

a. Calculation of Design Fee

During our interviews with clients and Norwegian firms, we noted that the relatively high

design fee and the different design fee calculation methods are issues of common concern to

the Chinese clients. They also pose difficulty that can be hardly coordinated in most

non-landmark projects and important commercial projects. In China, there are two design fee

calculation methods which are respectively based on the percentage of the total project

construction cost and construction cost per square meter of floor area. As designs of many

Chinese projects have to be conducted within a given budget for the construction cost (which

means the cost per square meter of floor area is within a relatively certain scope; total

construction cost = cost per square meter of floor area × total floor area. When the design fee

is based on the construction cost, the construction cost is therefore relevant to the floor area),

the design fee based on percentage of construction cost and that on cost of per square meter of

floor area are almost identical, as they are both basically based on floor area.

R09: Engineering design fee is calculated according to following formula:

1. Engineering design fee = Engineering design benchmark price × (1 ± fluctuation range)

2. Engineering design benchmark price = basic design fee + other design fees

3. Basic design fee = Engineering design charging base × discipline-based adjustment coefficient ×

engineering complexity coefficient × additional adjustment coefficient

-- China Engineering Design Fee Standards

However, the design fee is billed differently in Norway, i.e. based on the number of hours the

architects spend on the project. As we heard in most cases, the design fee ranges between

1,000 to 1,200 NOK per hour in terms of the hourly rate. The difference between these two

methods is that the design fee based on hourly rate better protects the interests of design firms

and architects, while that based on floor area of the project better facilitates the project cost

control. The design fee calculation based on floor area often blurs the time cost architects

spend on the projects and make architects’ extra labor ignored by the client. In our opinion,

these two calculation methods are results of different social structure and development stages,

hence are both reasonable in the design circles of their home countries and very difficult to be

altered.

S10. We suggest that, to quote a design fee to the client, the firm first calculate a total price

according to the estimated working hours and better agree with the client that any

modifications and changes in design in excess of the specified times will be charged by hours

according to an hourly rate, with every detail stipulated in the contract to guarantee

collection of the design fee.

T36: Accepting the calculation method based on square meters

b. Development Model of Norwegian Firms

When it comes to whether there is a need to set up an office in China, most Norwegian

architecture firms do not have such plan in near future according to our interviews. Even

those firms who have large projects under construction in China chose to take regular

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business trips instead of setting up a new office or working on site.

C15: Among 8 Norwegian firms we interviewed, the most experienced firm in Chinese projects is Niels

Torp AS Arkitekter MNAL. It has been involved in China Eastern Airlines Headquarters in Shanghai

and partial design of the Border Control Project on the Hong Kong - Zhuhai - Macau Bridge in Zhuhai.

Therefore in recent period, Øyvind Neslein traveled to China every month and stayed for one week

each time.

For many projects, lacking of site resident architect would be regarded as a disadvantage by

the client. When the design capabilities and rate are similar between two foreign design firms,

the client would prefer the one who has office in China.

S11: In our interviews, we identified two potentials in the Norwegian architects: first,

although the Norwegian firms are fairly internationalized internally, their management is of

typical Norwegian style; second, the managerial practices of the Norwegian firms may be

exported as one of their strengths in handling overseas projects. Such advanced managerial

practices should be demonstrated in full to the Chinese developers. To make substantial

achievements in China, a Norwegian firm had better set up an office here and may then

choose one of the six modes set forth in III-1-3)-b in view of the actual conditions of the

projects and its own features. We have summarized the respective advantages and

disadvantages of these modes for reference.

T37: Choose projects with relatively long development period

T38: It is important that clients could accept projects using Internet based communication

c. Ways of Communications

d.

We mentioned earlier that Chinese clients and architects often feel difficult to communicate

with foreign designers. The most important reason, besides language and culture, is that

foreign architects are often too insistent on their philosophy. Our studies show that the

Chinese partners are concerned about the communication with Norwegian architects.

Therefore, it is very necessary to establish effective communication mechanism. Of course,

effective communication does not mean that architects have to abandon their own principles.

S12. Norwegian architects should have sufficient communication with the LDIs and

developers. Norwegian architects should expound in full detail their design concepts as well

as the underlying reasons and the Chinese parties should enumerate their reasons, whether

because it is at odds with the code or because it will not yield the expected effect given the

existing construction technologies or constrained budget. Similar communications will

eventually make for a solution.

e. Economic Returns

f.

Since the demand of Norwegian domestic construction projects is very stable, setting up

office in China may not bring economic benefits to Norwegian firms against the backdrop of

fierce competition and relatively low design fee. However during the interviews, most

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Norwegian firms mentioned that they are not aiming at short-term economic returns. Even so,

that does not mean Norwegian architects do not need to make money. In fact, they could work

on some projects offering higher deign fee, including those with higher technical

requirements and cannot be handled by architects of other countries.

The market data reveal to us that although the per capita output of the foreign firms in China

is on par with that of the LDIs and is much lower than that of the world’s largest design firms,

but given the pyramid-shaped income structure in China, the income level of the expatriate

executives here is equal to or even higher than that of their counterparts overseas.

Besides, the foreign firms may choose to participate in projects with higher design fees,

which usually have higher technical requirements and demand more intellectual and technical

input, such as airports, hospitals, etc.

S13: Norwegian firms must establish the following development concepts: 1. pursuing

long-term goals instead of short-term interests; 2. protecting Norwegian architects' income by

delegating part of the junior work; 3. participating in technically difficult projects yielding

high design fees.

T39: The higher technical difficulty, the higher the fee.

g. Legal Issues

Norway is a legal society and Norwegian architects are very serious about legal issues

regarding the projects and may spend astonishingly high attorneys' fees on legal issues as they

are not familiar with Chines laws. This poses a challenge. Chinese Contract Law is an

important issue needed to be addressed when entering China. There are also many

construction-related laws. Since China's legal system is far from perfect, some clients or LDIs

may have some practices on the verge of breaking the law. These conducts may not be illegal,

but could be unacceptable for foreign firms. Of course, if the liabilities and risks can be set up

in the first time, the later contract can follow the similar mode and save lawyer fee in later

projects.

R10: Common Chinese construction-related laws: Contract Law, Construction Law, Bidding Law,

Property Law, Government Procurement Law and Urban and Rural Planning Law. In china, design

contract issued by Chinese government is in standard templates and relatively simple.

F53: Common Chinese Construction-related Laws

S14. Chinese laws have always been a headache for foreign firms, especially in occasions of

international cooperation for which both parties may have to spend a lot of time and money

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in sorting out the legal issues. We suggest that have a comprehensive agreement at the first

time and follow the similar way in the future.

T40: Understanding Chinese laws and regulations on construction

T41: Standard design contract issued by Chinese government is simple

h. Code Compliance of Construction projects

To tackle this issue in China, we need the help from LDIs. A trustworthy partner would save a

lot of costs and concerns in this regard.

Most Chinese building codes are not provided with official English version, and many of the

provisions are semantically ambiguous, leaving room for different interpretations. So it is

very difficult for foreign firms (or even its Chinese speaking employees) to understand such

provisions, and a trusted partner such as LDIs could save such troubles.

R11: Common codes: General Civil Construction Code, Fire Code, Regulations on Detailing Level of

Construction Engineering Design Documentation, Evaluation Criteria of Green Building

F54: Common codes in China

S15. It is unrealistic to have the Norwegian architects completely grasp the Chinese codes.

Therefore, they have to cooperate with some experienced domestic entities or individuals to

pick up some basic provisions at the very beginning of the conceptual design and avoid any

violations of codes by seeking advices in the process of design.

T42: Read more Chinese building codes

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IV Summary With huge area, large population and complicated factors, Chinese market is full of

opportunities and challenges. Just like Columbus’ expedition to discover the East, the journey

to China is full of difficulties and challenges. Chinese architectural design market is rooted in

its specific culture, and even local people feel difficult to exactly work it out. But there are

something we could be sure of: First, the Chinese architectural design market is opening up;

secondly, the market will be better regulated; and thirdly, quality and innovation will be more

valued in this market. These should all give confidence to the Norwegian architects interested

in Chinese market.

Nowadays, the Chinese clients still know little of the Norwegian architects. As per our studies

on architects from other countries and their practices in China, we noticed that they also

encountered various difficulties and problems. Currently, except a few highly commercialized

firms or those which are engaged in other businesses besides design, few foreign firms have

earned more absolute economic returns than their practices in western countries. However,

there are still many firms which have fulfilled their goal of values while realizing acceptable

economic returns. These firms usually have something in common: 1. They have good

knowledge of China; 2. They are experts in certain fields; 3. They are good at expanding their

influences.

Among the aforesaid three factors, the main challenge a Norwegian firm may face while

entering the Chinese market is the insufficient knowledge of China and influence in Chinese

market. Yet we are glad to see that Norwegian firms are now trying hard to understand China

through many ways, though their influence in China is still limited. We believe influence

could be built up through some long-term efforts, such as attending influential seminars and

exhibitions more often to increase media exposure, or introducing design magazine or

participating in the academic institutions activities. Norwegian architects’ strength lies in their

expertise in some certain fields, the eco-friendly and green design that is inherent to them;

moreover, their experiences in project management, senior care facilities, cultural complexes

and feeder airports are urgently needed in Chinese market. Norwegian architects must make

good use of the expertise.

When a Norwegian firm is poised to enter China, first of all, it had better choose a local

partner (a person, a team or a LDI) who can facilitate effective communication. Pros and cons

for these operating modes have been illustrated in III-1-3)-c

Secondly, when it comes to choosing projects, there are 2 major ways to get projects

Competitions and Commissions. In III-1-2)-f and g we explained the process of a typical open

competition. For Commission projects, the Norwegian firms should try to cooperate with

developers of good market reputation and target at the suitable project typology. In dealing

with small- and medium-sized developers, it should conduct repeated evaluation of the

relevant risks to safeguard its own interests, and preferably be contacted by the developers on

the latter’s own initiative. The Norwegian firm may make some bold forecasts about the

future market -- a smart forecast will give the firm the upper hand in the competition for

Summary

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projects. As regards the selection of specific projects, it is advised to set long-term goals

rather than focus on short-term interest and to opt for projects of higher difficulty level over

those of lower difficulty level.

Getting information are extremely important at this stage, info of competitions, clients, LDIs

and some knowledge for how to work in China market. And in this process, Norwegian firms

can learn from the partners, clients, the public, and even the competitors.

For more details about the future of China, the foreign firms may read news about China’s

politics and economy and make some forecasts. For example, it has been reported lately that

the Chinese government will loosen the one-child policy, which may herald a baby boom and

a flourishing of preschool buildings in China. Anyone able to perceive the opportunities

behind such news is bound to have a head start in the competition for projects.

Guanxi (Connections) is a tricky word in China Market. It used to link with corruption or

deals under table. Nowadays, this market is getting more and more open and clean, the best

way to win the project by great design and professional experience, so that the designers have

to ramp up their influence and develop their distinctive design specialties. On the basis of the

new trends currently identified, we conclude that the developers are becoming increasingly

professional in selecting design firms, which requires the foreign firms to develop exceptional

features and allows opportunities to excellent young architects.

In our interviews, we identified two potentials in the Norwegian architects: first, although the

Norwegian firms are fairly internationalized internally, their management is of typical

Norwegian style; second, the managerial practices of the Norwegian firms may be exported as

one of their strengths in handling overseas projects. Such advanced managerial practices

should be demonstrated in full to the Chinese developers. To make substantial achievements

in China, a Norwegian firm had better set up an office here and may then choose one of the

six modes set forth in III-1-3)-c in view of the actual conditions of the projects and its own

features. We have summarized the respective advantages and disadvantages of these modes

for reference.

In the progress of the project, the Norwegian architects should have sufficient communication

with the LDI and the developer. The local partners can help the foreign firms to communicate

in a more effective way by advising on when to say and what to say while dealing with the

developers and to avoid conflicts with codes and technical specifications by informing them

of the local provisions related to their designs. In case of any delayed schedule, they may

remind their foreign partners in advance and urge the developers to pay for the design fees on

time.

Design fee is an important issue that both clients and designers care about. We suggest that, to

quote a design fee to the client, the firm first calculate a total price according to the estimated

working hours and better agree with the client that any modifications and changes in design in

excess of the specified times will be charged by hours according to an hourly rate, with every

detail stipulated in the contract to guarantee collection of the design fee.

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From the angle of Norwegian design firms, the policy they could take is to focus on design

works at initial project phases (conceptual design and schematic design), where Norwegian

firms advantages can be best played in these intelligence-intensive design phases, and to

reduce participation in works of latter phases. To control the quality of the final result, it

requires advance project management system, which is one of the strength of Norwegian

Architects.

Once the first project gets built in China, don’t miss any chance to promote this in public and

professional media. It will help a lot in getting more projects in the future, and it will boot a

good loop.

Academic exchange, in spite of its diminutive effect in the short term, may in the long run

have strong and far-reaching influence on the potential partners for future cooperation.

Partake in some carefully selected promotion events, provide eye-catching topics with great

business potential as well as some publicity build-up to the events beforehand to attract as

many visitors from the target groups as possible, and conduct follow-up visits after closure of

the events.

Suggestions offered in this Study Report may hopefully serve as reference for Norwegian

architects when they decide to explore the Chinese market. Yet practical experiences are still

to be accumulated over time.

YCDA is a platform for more than 40 design firms in Guangzhou, more than 5 of the

members are Class-A Design Institutes, which are qualified for all architectural projects in

China, and they are open to international cooperation. Atelier cnS is an architectural studio in

Pearl River Delta, and it has a lot of international experience in practice and academic. Please

feel free to contact YCDA and cnS, if you have any questions regarding to this report and

China market.

We hope to see more Norwegian architects’ works in China. Our research team wishes all the

success and prosperity of Norwegian architects in China.

Summary

0

T01: China is so big

T02: Learn to interpret China at both political and economic levels

T03: Development area and new area mean opportunities

T04: Numerous opportunities in non-first-tier cities and provinces

T05: Keep up with the trend to yield twice the result with half the effort

T06: Always stick to the green and ecological concept

T07: In China, architects do not determine material supplier

T08: There will be more opportunities if working with large LDIs

T09: For government projects, the favor of the top leader is crucial

T10: For government projects, attention should be paid to the change of the leadership

T11: Seize the opportunity to collaborate with large developers who are experienced at

international cooperation.

T12: There are many opportunities to work with small developers but it’s cautious to pick the

right one.

T13: Negotiating in government project is easier than developer’s

T14: Choose a suitable mode of working in China

T15: Chinese competition committee tries to maintain regional balance.

T16: Focus on your own competitive edge.

T17: To succeed, the first project is most important.

T18: Influence matters more than size.

T19: It is of great meaning for professional architects to engage in academics and Education.

T20: Participate in influential exhibitions and forums.

T21: Publish more articles on the authoritative influential magazines.

T22: Instill more positive energy.

T23: Understand the Chinese way of communication.

T24: Laws, planlessness of the projects, delayed payment of design fees are the major issues

faced by foreign firms in China.

T25: A good local partner is very important.

T26: Chinese market begins to put more and more premium on choosing the right architect.

T27: Young firms also have opportunities.

T28: Architectural Design from the perspective of natural scenery

T29: Wood is luxury in China

T30: To describe Norwegian architecture as beautiful as Norwegian landscape.

T31: The income structure of Chinese architects is a pyramid

T32: Chinese people love Nordic designs

T33: Careful analysis on future market potential in China

T34: It is better to let the client find you than you find the client

T35: Pay attention to China’s overseas investment

T36: Accepting the calculation method based on square meters

T37: Choose projects with relatively long development period

T38: It is important that clients could accept works being done based on internet

T39: The higher technical difficulty, the higher fee.

T40: Understand Chinese laws and regulations on construction

T41: Standard design contract issued by Chinese government is simple

T42: Read more Chinese building codes

Summary

1

S01. The best choice is to cooperate with developers of high market credibility and pick

appropriate types of projects. As regards cooperation with small- and medium-sized

developers, the designers have to evaluate the relevant risks repeatedly to choose the right

partners and safeguard their interests in the process.

S02: Academic exchange, in spite of its diminutive effect in the short term, may in the long

run have strong and far-reaching influence on the potential partners for future cooperation.

S03: Partake in some carefully selected promotion events, provide eye-catching topics with

great business potential as well as some publicity build-up to the events beforehand to attract

as many visitors from the target groups as possible, and conduct follow-up visits after closure

of the events.

S04: The local partners can help the foreign firms to communicate in a more effective way by

advising on when to say and what to say while dealing with the developers and to avoid

conflicts with codes and technical specifications by informing them of the local provisions

related to their designs. In case of any delayed schedule, they may remind their foreign

partners in advance and urge the developers to pay for the design fees on time.

S05: On the basis of the new trends currently identified, we conclude that the developers are

becoming more and more professional in selecting design firms, which requires the foreign

firms to develop exceptional features and allows opportunities to excellent young architects.

S06: From the angle of Norwegian design firms, the policy they could take is to focus on

design works at initial project phases (conceptual design and schematic design), where

Norwegian firms advantages can be best played in these intelligence-intensive design phases,

and to reduce participation in works of latter phases.

S07: For more details about the future of China, the foreign firms may read news about

China’s politics and economy and make some forecasts. For example, it has been reported

lately that the Chinese government will loosen the one-child policy, which may herald a baby

boom and a flourishing of preschool buildings in China. Anyone able to perceive the

opportunities behind such news is bound to have a head start in the competition for projects.

S08: As regards how to prompt the developers to present themselves, we have to repeat the

prerequisite mentioned above that the designers have to ramp up their influence and develop

their distinctive design specialties.

S09: There are a lot in common between the building typology of China's overseas investment

projects and the fields that Norwegian firms are good at; hence there is great possibility of

cooperation in this aspect.

S10. We suggest that, to quote a design fee to the client, the firm first calculate a total price

according to the estimated working hours and better agree with the client that any

modifications and changes in design in excess of the specified times will be charged by hours

according to an hourly rate, with every detail stipulated in the contract to guarantee

collection of the design fee.

Summary

2

S11: In our interviews, we identified two potentials in the Norwegian architects: first,

although the Norwegian firms are fairly internationalized internally, their management is of

typical Norwegian style; second, the managerial practices of the Norwegian firms may be

exported as one of their strengths in handling overseas projects. Such advanced managerial

practices should be demonstrated in full to the Chinese developers. To make substantial

achievements in China, a Norwegian firm had better set up an office here and may then

choose one of the six modes set forth in III-1-3)-c in view of the actual conditions of the

projects and its own features. We have summarized the respective advantages and

disadvantages of these modes for reference.

S12. Norwegian architects should have sufficient communication with the LDIs and

developers. Norwegian architects should expound in full detail their design concepts as well

as the underlying reasons and the Chinese parties should enumerate their reasons, whether

because it is at odds with the code or because it will not yield the expected effect given the

existing construction technologies or constrained budget. Similar communications will

eventually make for a solution.

S13: Norwegian firms must establish the following development concepts: 1. pursuing

long-term goals instead of short-term interests; 2. protecting Norwegian architects' income by

delegating part of the junior work; 3. participating in technically difficult projects yielding

high design fees.

S14. Chinese laws have always been a headache for foreign firms, especially in occasions of

international cooperation for which both parties may have to spend a lot of time and money

in sorting out the legal issues. We suggest that have a comprehensive agreement at the first

time and follow the similar way in the future.

S15. It is unrealistic to have the Norwegian architects completely grasp the Chinese codes.

Therefore, they have to cooperate with some experienced domestic entities or individuals to

pick up some basic provisions at the very beginning of the conceptual design and avoid any

violations of codes by seeking advices in the process of design.

T01 China is so big T02 Learn to interpret China at both political and economic levelsT03 Development area and new area mean opportunitiesT04 Numerous opportunities in non-first-tier cities and provincesT05 Keep up with the trend to yield twice the result with half the effortT07 In China, architects do not determine material supplierT08 There will be more opportunities if working with large LDIsT15 Chinese competition committee tries to maintain regional balanceT26 Chinese market begins to put more and more premium on choosing the right architectT27 Young firms also have opportunitiesT31 The income structure of Chinese architects is a pyramidT32 Chinese people love Nordic designsT35 Pay attention to China’s overseas investment

Design Features a. Respecting Environment & Landscapeb. Adept at the Utilization of Materialsc. Humanistic Cared. Experienced in Project Managemente. Experienced in Full Life Cycle Maintenance

T16 Focus on your own competitive edgeT28 Architectural Design from the perspective of natural sceneryT29 Wood is luxury in ChinaT30 To describe Norwegian architecture as beautiful as Norwegian landscapeT39 The higher technical difficulty, the higher fee

T14 Choose a suitable mode of working in ChinaT24 Laws, planlessness of the projects, delayed payment of design fees are the major issues faced by foreign firms in ChinaT25 A good local partner is very importantT33 Careful analysis on future market potential in ChinaT40 Understand Chinese laws and regulations on construction

T11 Seize the opportunity to collaborate with large developers who are experienced at international cooperationT12 There are many opportunities to work with small developers but it’s cautious to pick the right oneT13 Negotiating in government project is easier than developer’sT34 It is better to let the client find you than you find the clientT36 Accepting the calculation method based on square metersT37 Choose projects with relatively long development periodT38 It is important that clients could accept works being done based on internetT41 Standard design contract issued by Chinese government is simple

T09 For government projects, the favor of the top leader is crucialT10 For government projects, attention should be paid to the change of the leadershipT30 To describe Norwegian architecture as beautiful as Norwegian landscapeT42 Read more Chinese building codes

T22 Instill more positive energyT23 Understand the Chinese way of communication

Norway China MarketMatching

Contract Design ProcessMode Success

BrandingUnderstanding Specialization

T06 Always stick to the green and ecological conceptT17 To succeed, the first project is most importantT18 Influence matters more than sizeT19 It is of great meaning for professional architects to engage in academics and EducationT20 Participate in influential exhibitions and forumsT21 Publish more articles on the authoritative influential magazines

LDI

Open a small office in LDIe.g.:Zaha Hadid Architects

Open a branch for contact in CHNe.g.:Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

CHN

Associate with local partnere.g.:ADEPT

Purchase a small local firm

Associate with LDI

LDI

Purchase a LDIe.g.:AECOM

LDI

T17 To succeed, the first project is most important

NorwayChina Market

BrandingModes Understanding

ApproachesS01. The best choice is to cooperate with developers of high market credibility and pick appropriate types of projects. As regards cooperation with small- and medium-sized developers, the designers have to evaluate the relevant risks repeatedly to choose the right partners and safeguard their interests in the process.

S04: The local partners can help the foreign firms to communicate in a more effective way by advising on when to say and what to say while dealing with the developers and to avoid conflicts with codes and technical specifications by informing them of the local provisions related to their designs. In case of any delayed schedule, they may remind their foreign partners in advance and urge the developers to pay for the design fees on time.

S05: On the basis of the new trends currently identified, we conclude that the developers are becoming more and more professional in selecting design firms, which requires the foreign firms to develop exceptional features and allows opportunities to excellent young architects.

S06: From the angle of Norwegian design firms, the policy they could take is to focus on design works at initial project phases (conceptual design and schematic design), where Norwegian firms advantages can be best played in these intelligence-intensive design phases, and to reduce participation in works of latter phases.

S13: Norwegian firms must establish the following development concepts: 1. pursuing long-term goals instead of short-term interests; 2. protecting Norwegian architects' income by delegating part of the junior work; 3. participating in technically difficult projects yielding high design fees.

S14. Chinese laws have always been a headache for foreign firms, especially in occasions of international cooperation for which both parties may have to spend a lot of time and money in sorting out the legal issues. We suggest that agreement be reached at a general level without delving too deep into the specific details of the legal issues.

S15. It is unrealistic to have the Norwegian architects completely grasp the Chinese codes. Therefore, they have to cooperate with some experienced domestic entities or individuals to pick up some basic provisions at the very beginning of the conceptual design and avoid any violations of codes by seeking advices in the process of design.

S07: For more details about the future of China, the foreign firms may read news about China’s politics and economy and make some forecasts. For example, it has been reported lately that the Chinese government will loosen the one-child policy, which may herald a baby boom and a flourishing of preschool buildings in China. Anyone able to perceive the opportunities behind such news is bound to have a head start in the competition for projects.

S08: As regards how to prompt the developers to present themselves, we have to repeat the prerequisite mentioned above that the designers have to ramp up their influence and develop their distinctive design specialties. S10. We suggest that, to quote a design fee to the client, the firm first calculate a total price according to the estimated working hours and better agree with the client that any modifications and changes in design in excess of the specified times will be charged by hours according to an hourly rate, with every detail stipulated in the contract to guarantee collection of the design fee.

S11: In our interviews, we identified two potentials in the Norwegian architects: first, although the Norwegian firms are fairly internationalized internally, their management is of typical Norwegian style; second, the managerial practices of the Norwegian firms may be exported as one of their strengths in handling overseas projects. Such advanced managerial practices should be demonstrated in full to the Chinese developers. To make substantial achievements in China, a Norwegian firm had better set up an office here and may then choose one of the six modes set forth in III-1-3)-b in view of the actual conditions of the projects and its own features. We have summarized the respective advantages and disadvantages of these modes for reference.

S12. Norwegian architects should have sufficient communication with the LDIs and developers. Norwegian architects should expound in full detail their design concepts as well as the underlying reasons and the Chinese parties should enumerate their reasons, whether because it is at odds with the code or because it will not yield the expected effect given the existing construction technologies or constrained budget. Similar communications will eventually make for a solution.

S02: Academic exchange, in spite of its diminutive effect in the short term, may in the long run have strong and far-reaching influence on the potential partners for future cooperation.

S03: Partake in some carefully selected promotion events, provide eye-catching topics with great business potential as well as some publicity build-up to the events beforehand to attract as many visitors from the target groups as possible, and conduct follow-up visits after closure of the events.

S09: There are a lot in common between the building typology of China's overseas investment projects and the fields that Norwegian firms are good at, hence there is great possibility of cooperation in this aspect.

LDI

Open a small office in LDIe.g.:Zaha Hadid Architects

Open a branch for contact in CHNe.g.:Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

CHN

Associate with local partnere.g.:ADEPT

Purchase a small local firm Associate with LDI

LDI

Purchase a LDIe.g.:AECOM

LDI

Data Research into Chinese Architectural Design Market A01

A01-1 Overview of Chinese Building Industry

A01-2 Statistics of Chinese Architecture Design Market

A01-3 List of Architecture Design Firms in China & Case Studies

A01

1-1

Data Research into Chinese Architectural Design Market

A01-1

Overview of Chinese Building Industry

Number of Enterprises

Gross Output Value

A01

1-2

Data Research into Chinese Architectural Design Market

The Area of Completed Construction in Different Building Type

The Value of Completed Construction in Different Building Types

Contract Value

A01

1-3

Data Research into Chinese Architectural Design Market

A01-2

Statistics of Chinese Architecture Design Market

Number of architecture design firms registered in China (2010)

Total number of architecture design firms registered

in China 7761

Local design institutes (LDI) 1570 (20.23%)

Collectively-owned firms 149 (1.92%)

Foreign-founded firms 99 (1.28%)

Others

Limited liability company (LLC) 3885

Private firms 1180

Company limited by shares 547

Joint-equity cooperative enterprises 188

HK-Macao-TW founded firms 84

Associated enterprise 11

Others 48

Number of architecture design firms registered in China (2010)

Total number of employees in architecture firms 623700

Registered practitioners 81600 (13.08%)

First-class registered architects 13312

Second-class registered architects 11196

First-class registered structural engineers 15321

Second-class registered structural engineers 3612

Registered civil engineers 1273

Registered urban planners 2167

Registered supervising engineers 2568

Registered cost engineers 2690

First-class registered constructors 10788

Second-class registered constructors 10144

Value of completed contracts of architecture firms

Total contract value of architecture related

companies (billion RMB) (2010) 326.031

Amount of engineering exploration 4.381 (1.34%)

Amount of project design 85.407 (26.20%)

Amount of engineering technical service 5.194 (1.60%)

Amount of project contracting 219.543 (67.33%)

Amount of contracts abroad 11.506 (3.53%)

A01

1-4

Data Research into Chinese Architectural Design Market

Value of completed contracts in 2006-2011 (0.1billion RMB)

Financial performance of architecture design firms

Total operating income of architecture

related companies (RMB) (2010)

388.827 billion

Amount of engineering exploration 6.348 billion (1.63%)

Amount of project design 73.008 billion (18.78%)

Amount of engineering technical service 3.733 billion (0.96%)

Amount of project contracting 249.827 billion (64.25%)

Amount of contracts abroad 7.796 billion (2.01%)

Amount of other income 48.115 billion (12.37%)

Operating income per person 622,300

Total operating costs 330.227 billion

Total profit 25.415 billion

Profit per person 40,700

Operating profit margin 6.54%

Total operating income in 2006-2011 (0.1billion RMB)

A01

1-5

Data Research into Chinese Architectural Design Market

Operating income per person in 2006-2011 (10000 RMB)

A01-3

List of Architecture Design Firms in China & Case Studies

Comparison between Top 30 Chinese architecture design firms and international ones

(A—State-owned firms B—Private Firms C—Foreign firms)

A01

1-6

Data Research into Chinese Architectural Design Market

List of Top 20 foreign architecture design firms in China (2012)

Investigation Made on the Internet into Norwegian Architecture Firms A02

A02-1 Size of Architecture Design Firms in Norway

A02-2 Survey of Norwegian Architects’ Interests in China Market

A02

2-1

Investigation Made on the Internet into Norwegian Architecture Firms

A02-1

Size of Architecture Design Firms in Norway

Total

number of

architects

Total

number of

firms

Firms(1

architects)

Firms(2-4

architects)

Firms(5-9

architects)

Firms(10-19

architects)

Firms(>19

architects)

About 4000 About 2000 55% 22% 13% 7% 2%

A02-2 Survey of Norwegian Architects’ Interests in China Market

Respondents：(30 architecture firms in Norway)

Architects who had Chinese experience

Architects who are interested in China market

Architects who are not interested in China market

Main topics in this questionnaire:

Part I

Overview of the firms (firm size, number of designers, overseas branches…)

Characteristic of Norwegian architecture/design service

Competitiveness of Norwegian design compared to other Scandinavian design

Part II

Reasons about the interest in China market

Strategies to explore China market

Profitable building design exporting to China market

Firm’s average growth rate of turnover and the percentage of Chinese projects

Information noticeable

a. What is the firm’s average growth rate of annual turnover from 2010 to 2013?

Answers from architects who had Chinese experience

Answers from architects who are interested in Chinese market

A02

2-2

Investigation Made on the Internet into Norwegian Architecture Firms

Answers from architects who are not interested in Chinese market

b. What are the top 2 profitable services exporting to China in your firm?

Answers from architects who had Chinese experience

Answers from architects who are interested in Chinese market

Answers from architects who are not interested in Chinese market

(What are the most profitable services in your firm?)

c. What are the top 2 reasons that cut off your interests in entering China market?

Answers from architects who are interested in Chinese market

YCDA-based Architecture Forum A03

A03

3-1

YCDA-based Architecture Forum

Guest List

Espen Rikter-Svendsen

Jane Zhang

Jianxiang He

Alonso Laybarra

Ming Guan

Ben Dai

Royal Norwegian Consulate General in Guangzhou

Partner, Mada-Spam Shenzhen

Principal, O-Office

Graphic Director, Teamer Design

Curator

Partner, Atelier cnS,

Ming Guan: The consensus of cooperation is the base of international communication.

Ming Guan: Mr. Alonso has been in Guangzhou for 6 months, and he loves Guangzhou. However,

there must be some success and failure in cooperation. Can you share with us some good and bad

experiences?

Alonso Laybarra: There is no good or bad experiences. Wherever the architect is from, he or she will

have something in common for sure. But in China, there is a gap between Chinese architects and

western architects. For example, when a western architect proposes a minimalism design, Chinese

architect will say that there is too little element in it and adding something more is better. But this kind

of gap can be understood because the Chinese architect knows that the clients will not accept

minimalism and that persuading the committee is very difficult. Furthermore, Europeans will directly

show negative opinions, while Chinese think that this is rude and they will hesitate to show their

opinion, that is to say, Chinese will not directly express their objection. So meetings in China will be

longer than those in Europe, and the Europeans are not sure if they will get any result at the end of the

meeting.

Ming Guan: Since you have abundant experience of working aboard, can you share it with us?

Jane Zhang: The most important thing is that you should understand why you need cooperation before

you operate.

Espen Riskter-Svenden: Architecture is both cultural thing and commercial thing. Some Chinese

architects and professors have visited Norway last time and that was a good ice-breaking journey. This

time we will bring Norwegian architects to China. In Norway, there is a group of 8 major design

institutes who are interested in China market. They will visit China in 2014.

Ming Guan (asked everybody): Do you have questions for each other?

A03

3-2

YCDA-based Architecture Forum

Alonso Laybarra: When doing a design, western architects will be responsible from the beginning

until the very end of the construction. But Chinese architects are involved only until the design period.

Will this situation be changed in the future?

Jane Zhang: The situation of China is influenced by the situation of the entire market, you can’t blame

this only in the architects. Western architects have developed their own advantages such as the

comprehensive thinking of material and detail in the western environment, but this may be

disadvantages here in China.

Jianxiang He: Chinese architects have to adjust the way of working in response to the rapid

development in China.

Questions of Audiences

Reporter from Nanfang Metropolis Daily: Can you say it again in Chinese?

Ming Guan: There is not enough time so the guests can only translate in short.

Jane Zhang: In China, architecture is a social activity, and cooperation is necessary.

Jianxiang He: Yes indeed. But the current situation of cooperation is far from the level of cooperation

in foreign countries, and we cannot just copy the way they cooperate. There must be negotiation in it.

We can try to begin from small projects.

Summary

This forum mainly discussed some situations and problems that foreign architects may come across

during cooperation with Chinese architects, owners or authorities. According to the guests, the actual

environment of design in China is more positive than it is in imagination before coming. And they

approved the development of economy and culture. But there is still a gap between foreign architects

and Chinese, and this gap is a result of difference of cultures and the different position in cooperation.

Communication is the first issue. People in East Asia tend to maintain their negative answers, while

western people are rather straightforward. These differences in communication make decision-making

process slow. The second thing is that western architects are in a different aesthetic system from the

Chinese project owners, so sometimes the proposals cannot meet the owners’ agreement, even though

the Chinese architects can understand them. The different duration of responsibility in design is the

third issue. Foreign architects will remain responsible even after the project is completed, while

Chinese architects’ responsibility only lasts until the design process. According to the Chinese guest,

this is a problem of the entire market, and nobody should blame this on individual architect.

The forum reached an end with a conclusion that architecture is a social activity, and it is driven by the

entire environment. The issues discussed above are all connected with the difference in culture itself,

which means there is no quick method to solve these problems and architects should contribute together.

So, Norwegian architects have to be intelligent in choosing the right projects and learn how to

cooperate with Chinese, both architects and authorities.

A04-1 AECOM (USA) / Jonace Vincent Bascon

A04-2 Aedas (HK) / Christopher Chen

A04-3 Gensler (USA) / Peng Wu

A04-4 BIG (Denmark) / Bjarke Ingels, Xu Li

A04-5 ADEPT (Denmark) / Aidi Su

A04-6 Zaha Hadid Architects (UK) / Raymond Lau

Interviews of Foreign Design Firms in China A04

A04

4-1

Interviews of Foreign Design Firms in China

A04-1

Q: Why you’re interested in China market? What do you think of the current design environment of it?

A: The interest started with an invitation from AECOM's Guangzhou office managing director whom I

knew from my graduate studies at Harvard. Unaware of the rapid changes happening here at that

point, I quickly understood the energy and momentum that's stretching urbanization in Chinese

cities to its limits. As an Architect, it intrigued me to stay longer, to learn and to be an active

participant of this critical moment in Chinese cities.

Q: What kind of advantages do foreign designers have compared to Chinese designers?

A: I would not call it as an advantage. Lately, more and more of my colleagues are Chinese who have

had their higher degree education outside of China and may have had a bit of work experience there

too. In my perspective, it is simply a different point of view. At AECOM, the collaboration of our

local and international team members fosters a diverse approach to our projects for our clients

benefit.

Q: What kind of risks and barriers that you’ve met in the tender and construction process as a foreign

designer? What strategies do you took to overcome the difficulties?

A: As an urban designer, my experience on this aspect of the construction process is minimal. Most

of the projects I have been involved remain at the conceptual stages. Occasionally, we do follow

through with some of our master plans with the LDI teams.

Q: Can you give some advice to other foreign designers who intend to explore China market?

A: Before I decided to move, I asked around if I need to learn Chinese but I was advised otherwise

from colleagues working for other firms at that time. Once I got started, I realized it is still a major

hurdle. Although I was fortunate at AECOM where most of our colleagues are able to communicate

in English, I believe to connect with the clients and local colleagues, it is important to know a bit of

Chinese. Secondly, the pace of development here goes hand in hand with the way you work. They

have to be prepared to work endless hours in the office or out.

Q: What operation mode that your firm chose to explore China market?

A: EDAW was already well established for over 20 years in China before the merger with AECOM.

Even after that, the EDAW brand still remains strong and well known to our clients. I believe that

firms who have established themselves here for quite some time have the advantage of partnering

up with international firms who are just about to explore this market. What’s more, Citymark also

joined Aecom in 2007. It’s an important milestone that a foreign company owns a Grade A

Certificate Design Institute in China, which expands the scope and possibilities of Aecom in China.

AECOM (USA)

Jonace Vincent Bascon

Senior Urban Designer, Associate

A04

4-2

Interviews of Foreign Design Firms in China

Q: Which kind of Chinese architecture firms that you and other foreign firms would prefer to choose as

a cooperative partner or as a consultant (such as LDI or small and medium sized domestic firms)?

Specify the reasons.

A: In my experience at AECOM, we have partnered with LDI teams on several competition projects.

In most cases, our public client requires our LDI partner to partner with an international practice or

vice versa. These partnerships usually evolve from previous working relationships together.

A04

4-3

Interviews of Foreign Design Firms in China

A04-2

Q: Why you’re interested in China market? What do you think of the current design environment of it

(highlight trends that worth attention)?

A: As we are based in Hong Kong, Mainland China is always a target market for us. We think that the

tastes of the clients are getting better since most of them have traveled around and have seen

something good from other countries.

Q: What kind of advantages that foreign designers have compared to Chinese designers? (Design

concept, specific architecture types etc.)

A: Mixed-Use projects are what we are good at, because we have much more experience in

commercial projects. And Hong Kong developer such as Swire and Hung Lung, are tend to find us

for their projects in China.

We also have a very diversify design team. People can contribute their own advantages to the

project. There are some architects who have studied and worked both in China and Abroad. As

designers in Hong Kong, we can connect China and Western countries based on our unique status.

Q: What kind of risks and barriers that you’ve met in the tender and construction process as a foreign

designer? What strategies do you took to overcome the difficulties?

A: The biggest is problem is the process of compromising from Concept to Construction stage. In

concept stage, the clients always ask for something grand, and as the projects going on, we have to

modify the schemes to make it “buildable” in China.

Q: Based on your experience in China, can you give some advice to other foreign designers who intend

to explore China market?

A: China may change you on many ways, but always keep your baseline and core value.

Q: What operation mode that your firm chose to explore China market (such as establishing subsidiary

or using a local consultant)? Give the reasons.

A: Aedas opened offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, and some site offices. Those offices will deal

with the clients directly on contract and design fee issues. Internal contract will be signed between

HK and Mainland office based on the workload distribution. Both Hong Kong and China offices

have Architects and designers working on China projects.

Q: Which kind of Chinese architecture firms that you and other foreign firms would prefer to choose as

a cooperative partner or as a consultant (such as LDI or small and medium sized domestic firms)?

Specify the reasons.

A: We have cooperated with LDIs in different cities.

Aedas (HK)

Christopher Chen Senior Architectural Designer

A04

4-4

Interviews of Foreign Design Firms in China

A04-3

Q: Why you’re interested in China market? What do you think of the current design environment of it

(highlight trends that worth attention)?

A: At that time, the government is opening market to foreign capital, and in the early 1990s our

founder met with Premier Li Peng and began to explore the Asia-Pacific market official way. The

earliest projects were in Beijing from government while Shanghai Center is an opportunity for us to

enter Shanghai market, and later we relocated the company from Hong Kong to Shanghai.

Q: What kind of advantages that foreign designers have compared to Chinese designers? (Design

concept, specific architecture types etc.)

A: The competence to integrate projects, we started our industrialization from 50-60s, including the

standards, management, the sensitivity to the new technology and other factors. We entered the

market with a very mature system, which is a key advantage.

Q: What kind of risks and barriers that you’ve met in the tender and construction process as a foreign

designer? What strategies do you took to overcome the difficulties?

A: We didn’t meet so many barriers actually. The LDIs are learning fast, they study from our open

culture, design idea and systems, and cooperating better and better.

Q：Can you give some advice to other foreign designers who intend to explore China market?

A: I think the market has already saturated, it better to keep the key of your successful experience

abroad, and rely on the portfolio.

Gensler (USA)

Peng Wu Senior Architect

A04

4-5

Interviews of Foreign Design Firms in China

A04-4

Q：Why you’re interested in China market? What do you think of the current design environment of it

(highlight trends that worth attention)?

A: China is currently one of the fast developing country, with her growing exchange with outside world,

their interest of the western things and new trends keeps growing, whether government, developers,

practitioners and students. It’s an opportunity and also a challenge for western architects. China is

still in the large environment where Chinese architects strive to explore into their own

characteristics while western architects rushing in. The relation of "The government and developers

led, the architects follow" is still relatively obvious...

Q: What kind of advantages that foreign designers have compared to Chinese designers? (Design

concept, specific architecture types etc.)

A: As for Scandinavian designers, they should pay special attention to the insight of surroundings and

the building space of user’s concern, such as Danish Utzon, Henning Larson, Eero Saarinen, Sverre

Fehn and so on. I think this is inseparable from the impact of Nordic design environment on

designers, like “IKEA ", well-known in China as the representative of the Nordic home design,

takes most concern on the users.

Q: What kind of risks and barriers that you’ve met in the tender and construction process as a foreign

designer? What strategies do you took to overcome the difficulties?

A: One is to understand the oriental culture. When we are doing the design of Danish Pavilion of 2010

Shanghai World Expo, in order to make a "jie di qi(in-site)" building, we had made detailed study

and comparison for all aspects of the two countries, such as Danish and Chinese common means of

transportation the bicycle , deep impact on the Chinese people of Danish writer Andersen and his

story "The Little Mermaid" and symbol of China, the "Dragon". During the presentation, the

Chinese owners proposed that "Dragon does not represent good luck” and under his strong request,

we had to replace with "Panda". The second problem is the completion of the projects in China. The

schedule of Denmark Pavilion project had been very tight, thus construction had not well reflected

many details and we had to send our architects as site supervision. Although the final effect is

totally good, we felt disappointed in many details. "Rush schedule" is indeed a feature of Chinese

construction industry. The third comes from the uncertainties of owners. We used to designed a

building like "人（human）" character in Shanghai and had participated in the Shanghai Biennale

which had been highly praised by the main leader of Shanghai. Unfortunately, it was heard that

leader was arrested because of corruption after that and our "人(human)" character building project

end up with nothing .

Q: Based on your experience in China, can you give some advice to other foreign designers who intend

to explore China market?

BIG (Denmark)

Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner

Li Xu, Former Architect

A04

4-6

Interviews of Foreign Design Firms in China

A: Our current project in China is Shenzhen Energy Building, in addition to the Danish Pavilion in

Shanghai World Expo. My suggestion for other foreign architects is to respect the oriental culture,

fully understand the needs of the owners.

Q: What operation mode that your firm chose to explore China market (such as establishing subsidiary

or using a local consultant)? Give the reasons.

A: We have offices in Beijing .Because of the implementation of projects, we currently focus on the

market in Europe and the United States. I hope we can have more projects in China in the future.

Q: Which kind of Chinese architecture firms that you and other foreign firms would prefer to choose as

a cooperative partner or as a consultant (such as LDI or small and medium sized domestic firms)?

Specify the reasons.

A: Honestly, I do not know much about Chinese firm, Ma from MAD, is my good friend. I think we

would rather complete preliminary conceptual design independently and choose an experienced and

visionary LDI as our local consultants.

A04

4-7

Interviews of Foreign Design Firms in China

A04-5

Q：Why you’re interested in China market? What do you think of the current design environment of it

(highlight trends that worth attention)?

A: One of the key important changes in the last few years in China is the focus on urban planning as

architecture projects are decreasing. One particular topic becoming a trend is the urban regeneration

of older districts within the 1st tier cities as they are becoming overpopulated due to the high

migration of new residents. This is a large move away from designing completely new cities but

more focusing on how we can regenerate and redesign the existing cities so that they can become

upgraded with better public environments and higher FAR for the new residents. A second

interesting trend is the focus of architecture projects in china to include more urban factors in their

design process. The government and designing firms realize how important an urban approach can

make a huge difference in the effect of the architecture. Thus instead of making shiny visual

landmarks, the projects become more to emphasize the relationship to people and how we can

produce spaces that are better for people.

Q: What kind of advantages that foreign designers have compared to Chinese designers? (Design

concept, specific architecture types etc.)

A: One of the main advantages of the foreign designers is that their education is more focused on

producing a strong concept and less about the production quantity. This has to do with the amount

of work that is available between the China and other countries. Since there is less projects abroad,

architects have to spend more time trying to produce the best architecture.

Q: What kind of risks and barriers that you’ve met in the tender and construction process as a foreign

designer? What strategies do you took to overcome the difficulties?

A: As a foreign architect, we find it very hard to communicate with the construction team due to their

differences in quality control. For a Chinese construction firm, there is more attention on making

profit and trying to build the project in the quickest and easiest way without care to the construction

detail. Since we praise the importance of good detail design, we often have to try to solve the

problems that the construction team will meet. We often have to think beforehand for them and try

to see if there is an easier way to go around the problem they will meet.

Q: Can you give some advice to other foreign designers who intend to explore China market?

A: It's a tough market to handle due to difficulties in many areas. I suggest that finding some good

collaborators in China first so that it will help transition your team easier into the market.

Q: What operation mode that your firm chose to explore China market (such as establishing subsidiary

or using a local consultant)? Give the reasons.

A: We have established a subsidiary because we think it’s important to grow the firm locally through an

organic process. All our business decision were done in small steps first and we only expand as we

ADEPT (Denmark)

Aidi Su

Partner, Architect

A04

4-8

Interviews of Foreign Design Firms in China

start to gain more opportunities in the market. If you start slow by using a local consultant, you

might not have the momentum you need to keep going forward. For all businesses, it’s important to

gather the small steps and attack the market from many different angles. However if you take much

risks without gathering enough opportunities, this is also not recommended since sometimes the

payment process can be quite slow.

Q: Which kind of Chinese architecture firms that you and other foreign firms would prefer to choose as

a cooperative partner or as a consultant (such as LDI or small and medium sized domestic firms)?

Specify the reasons.

A: We prefer LDI cooperative partners because our firm is smaller so when executing these big

projects, we need more manpower and assistance from the LDI. In addition, a lot of the projects

need the proper registrations so that's also quite important for us to get the project.

A04

4-9

Interviews of Foreign Design Firms in China

A04-6

Q: Why you’re interested in China market? What do you think of the current design

environment of it (highlight trends that worth attention)?

A: The giant population of workforce, the world forefront GDP, and the rapid urbanization make

China a vibrant and desirable market for construction. With the 2008 Beijing Olympics, an

array of international designed and constructed architectural masterpieces opened up the

Chinese design environment that is more ready to embrace foreign trends and ideas. More

non-traditional architectural forms are being designed and built recently based on

well-known cultural analogy, mythologies, and symbols.

Q: What kind of advantages that foreign designers have compared to Chinese designers?

(Design concept, specific architecture types etc.)

A: The advantages of foreign designers mainly lie on their abilities to bring in ideas from

different thinking methodologies and mentalities, combining with various traditions and

standards. The intrigues in the foreignness and western cultures give foreign designers

advantages to import various international architectural styles into China. At the meantime,

some of them would have opportunities to conduct designs and constructions that align

with current social and theoretical discourses across various design fields; which makes

China a desirable experimental ground cater for putting theories into practices.

Q: What kind of risks and barriers that you’ve met in the tender and construction process as a

foreign designer? What strategies do you took to overcome the difficulties?

A: As the more complex and challenging architectural forms are being designed, the traditional

way of tendering based on tender drawing set is insufficient to communicate the design

specificities in detail. Contractors might misinterpret or undermine the information given

which constituted substandard construction detailing that compromises intended

performances. Therefore we apply building informational model (BIM) techniques to

overcome the shortcomings of, and supplement to, the traditional drawing sets. We also

conduct extensive mock-up processes to ensure the outcomes are aligned with the original

designs before overall construction is commenced.

During the onsite construction phase, frequent site visits are essential to ensure the quality

of construction meets the design intentions. A site visit report written after every visit were

filed to the client, pointing out all the defects and marking up all the requesting changes.

The site digital model would be constructed and updated according to the onsite built

conditions to highlight any discrepancy compare to the original BIM.

Q: Can you give some advice to other foreign designers who intend to explore China market?

Zaha Hadid Architects (UK)

Raymond Lau Former Director of ZHA,

Currently Principal Director GAP Architects

A04

4-10

Interviews of Foreign Design Firms in China

A: It's very important for foreign designers to understand the possible market shares of their

potential ventures before starting business in China. Although there are a lot of

opportunities in China, there also exist a lot of uncertainties. In addition, China is a

fast-changing market, therefore catching the wind in the right direction requires courage

and certain degree of luck.

Q: What operation mode that your firm chose to explore China market (such as establishing

subsidiary or using a local consultant)? Give the reasons.

A: In early phase of the business, it's important to establish a trusting partnership with local

consultants as they have better visions and risk managements towards the local market. As

the business grows and be more rooted into the local market with operations executed with

sensitivity and sensibility, that would be the suitable moment to consider establishing

subsidiaries in China.

Q: Which kind of Chinese architecture firms that you and other foreign firms would prefer to

choose as a cooperative partner or as an consultant (such as LDI or small and medium

sized domestic firms). Specify the reasons.

A: To ensure the smoothness and success in conducting projects at hand, we prefer to work

with LDIs that have working experience with foreign architects and have records in

conducting complex projects and processes.

For medium size domestic firms, they shall be specializing and excelling in particular parts

of the trade and demonstrate core experiences and knowledge. They shall carry an open

mind to work closely with us to create custom techniques and products for any

particularities and specificities in the projects.

A05-1 CCDI / Chen Zhao

A05-2 Architectural Design and Research Institute of Guangdong Province / Lei Gao

A05-3 Guangzhou Design Institute / Tao Liu

A05-4 City Group / Xiangdong Pan

Interviews with Local Design Institutes (LDIs) in China A05

A05

5-1

Interviews with Local Design Institutes (LDIs) in China

A05-1

Q: What are your views on domestic design conditions? What kind of design is needed in China?

A: In this environment design quality is not the initial leading force. There are powerful interference

factors. China needs truly high-level and independent-mind design.

Q: In what type of projects, you would choose to cooperate with foreign design companies? What are

the obstacles encountered in the process of cooperation there?

A: We don’t choose to cooperate with foreign ones except insistence of the clients.

Q: What are the foreign companies you cooperation with? What are the criteria? What are the other

learning advantages? What are the disadvantages?

A: CCDI has cooperated with all the major companies. Mainly the clients' choice. Foreign firms have

the advantages in design because of the control of design progress. They only have the problems to

adapt to Chinese conditions.

Q: Have you ever cooperate with the Norwegian designers? What are your impressions of Norway and

the Norwegian architect architectural?

A: No. I think Nordic architecture is nice.

Q: What strategies will you take if you choose to cooperate with a foreign firm?

A: I will cooperate with the others positively, communicate in all the aspects and build

decision-making mechanism in advance.

Chen Zhao

Design Director

CCDI Public Buildings Department

A05

5-2

Interviews with Local Design Institutes (LDIs) in China

A05-2

Q: What are your views on domestic design conditions? What kind of design is needed in China?

A: The market is disordered and messy. We need more rational, practical, and professional design.

Q: In what type of projects, you would choose to cooperate with foreign design companies? What are

the obstacles encountered in the process of cooperation there?

A: We will choose to cooperate in the rare type of projects or with new or extraordinary practicable

ideas. The obstacles are lots of foreign designers lacking experience of practical projects which

leads to unrealistic ideas.

Q: What are the foreign companies you cooperation with? What are the criteria? What are the other

learning advantages? What are the disadvantages?

A: We have cooperated with Lumsden, Woods Bagot, and AS. We chose them because of professional

work, positive cooperation and equality including design fee. The foreign firms have the

advantages that they are able to refuse the unreasonable demands from the clients, also they require

higher design fee. They have the weaknesses that they are lacking project experience and

sometimes their projects are impracticable. Several firms are even stubborn.

Q: Have you ever cooperate with the Norwegian designers? What are your impressions of Norway and

the Norwegian architect architectural?

A: No, I don’t know much about it either.

Q: What strategies will you take if you choose to cooperate with a foreign firm?

A: If I have to cooperate with a foreign one, I think cooperation with equality is the key to ensure the

progress of the project to go well with quality. Secondly, it must be explicit that the assignment of

responsibility, the standard needed to approach, and the rights and obligations.

Lei Gao

Associate

Architectural Design and Research Institute of Guangdong Province

A05

5-3

Interviews with Local Design Institutes (LDIs) in China

A05-3

Q: What are your views on domestic design conditions? What kind of design is needed in China?

A: Market rules need to be improved. The professional roles of architects are too limited. We‘re often

only the executors in the bottom, but don’t have much opportunity to say. In my opinion, China

needs a slower pace of design. We should have more consideration and elaboration needed in all the

aspects to meet the requirements of the clients and benefit for the community and city, instead of

showing off with cool appearance.

Q: In what type of projects, you would choose to cooperate with foreign design companies? What are

the obstacles encountered in the process of cooperation there?

A: Many developers prefer to choose the project designed by foreign firms in terms of high-rise

buildings and large-scale public buildings. Afterwards, they choose us to do the construction

drawing design. In most cases, it goes well. The obstacles might be that some kinds of foreign

technological means couldn’t be applied in China. There would be different requirements and

opinions to the technological problems in the progress of localization, which need to discuss to put

into practice.

Q: What are the foreign companies you cooperation with? What are the criteria? What are the other

learning advantages? What are the disadvantages?

A: We cooperated with GMP in a large-scale public building project and SOM in a high-rise building

project. Normally we are chosen by the clients and foreign design firms. It is worth to learn that

they have rich experience, careful jobs, nice service, and high level of standardization and

technology. Meanwhile, the pattern of design production, working in an assembly line, is obvious

Q: Have you ever cooperate with the Norwegian designers? What are your impressions of Norway and

the Norwegian architect architectural?

A: No, I haven’t yet. I’m not very explicit to Norwegian architect and architecture. I classify it to the

indistinct recognition and impression of Scandinavia. For example, I used to think BIG is a

Norwegian firm.

Q: What strategies will you take if you choose to cooperate with a foreign firm?

A: If I have a chance to cooperate with one, it could be better to have full participation in the design,

instead of the current pattern of cooperation: the foreign firms deliver the concept, project and the

initial design, and firms in China do the second half which is construction drawings.

Tao Liu

Architect

Guangzhou Design Institute

A05

5-4

Interviews with Local Design Institutes (LDIs) in China

A05-4

Q: What are your views on domestic design conditions? What kind of design is needed in China?

A: Sustainable development of economy of China provides the design industry a chance to have huge

development. Designers also gradually grow up through practicing. With the increase of quantity

resulting in the change of quality, at present mature and creative works are expected in the market.

Q: In what type of projects, you would choose to cooperate with foreign design companies? What are

the obstacles encountered in the process of cooperation there?

A: We will cooperate with foreign mature companies in large-scale and international vision needed

projects. The obstacles encountered could be whether the foreign designers can adapt to the ways

and ideas of Chinese clients.

Q: What are the foreign companies you cooperation with? What are the criteria? What are the other

learning advantages? What are the disadvantages?

A: In most of cases our cooperation has been setup by the client. There is also active cooperation. We

have cooperated with companies from Asia, Europe and America. They have mature pattern of

thinking, normative progress and creative and practicable ideas. But problems sometimes occur

when communicating about the development of the concept with the client.

Q: Have you ever cooperate with the Norwegian designers? What are your impressions of Norway and

the Norwegian architect architectural?

A: No. in my mind, architecture in Norway is the typical Nordic style. It’s kind, humanistic and

creative. I appreciate it.

Q: What strategies will you take if you choose to cooperate with a foreign firm?

A: With a thorough idea.

Q: Do you have any other advice on the cooperation with foreign firms?

A: I hope there are some mature patterns to cooperate with foreign design institute in long term.

Xiangdong Pan

City Group

Interviews with Chinese Developers and Government Representatives (Planning Bureau) A06

A06-1 Chengdu Huayi Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. Xudong Gao

A06-2 Xiamen Vanke Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. Qinshi He

A06-3 Juchuan Investment Group Changhe Geng

A06-4 R&F Properties Junhang Chen

A06-5 Anonymous Developer

A06-6 Planning Bureau of Guangzhou, Shan Hu

A06

6-1

Interviews with Chinese Developers and Government Representatives (Planning Bureau)

A06-1

Q: What kinds of projects do you prefer to cooperate with foreign architects? Compared with Chinese

designers, what are their advantages? (The position of products, specific/architecture types, design

concepts, the profitable potential of the investment,/etc.)

A: For public buildings and commercial buildings, we often cooperate with foreign designers to do the

landscape design and interior design in residential buildings as their design fee is much lower than

that of architecture construction. What’s more, due to different life style, we would work with

foreign designers on façade instead of plans.

Compared to local designers, foreign design firms are more mature on design concepts. They

provide higher potential return on investments because they are good at the arrangement of

commercial formats. Also, foreign designers think deep about the material, function and climate of

the projects as they have longer time on design.

Q: What you think is the most popular style of foreign architecture in China?

A: European style. It is western and straight-forward.

Q: With what foreign design companies do you cooperate most frequently? Specify the reason.

A: Mostly with the companies which are managed by local designers with study experience overseas

and registered abroad. It is because they can get access to local communication while catching up

with international concepts. Generally the design fee is higher than local firms but lower than

foreign ones.

Q: For the time being, the quality of foreign companies that enter local market is quite uneven, what

are your criteria to choose your partners? Will you do researches on the companies?(Fame, Ranking

of output value, design concepts, salaries and profits, the PR abilities, catering to local market or

not)

A: We will do the research. We are not concerned about the fame or ranking, instead we are more

concerned about the design concept. On one hand, we want to know whether they can cater to the

domestic market or not. If they do, it proves that they are sincere.

Q: What are the problems about management and communication you meet in the process of

cooperation? (Like traditional architectural FengShui, amendments to the drawings, Adding work

load but not raise money…)

A: Real estate agencies usually require foreign firms to finish the drawings quickly. The leaders of

agencies will intervene in the process.

Q: What problems of Sino-foreign cooperation projects will you meet under current system and

national conditions and how do you solve them? (Like, the design process of foreign firms is out of

Xudong Gao

General Manager

Chengdu Huayi Real Estate Development Co. Ltd.

A06

6-2

Interviews with Chinese Developers and Government Representatives (Planning Bureau)

sync with the construction drawing design process of domestic firms, non-transparency of bidding,

the gap between design concept and actual level of construction…)

A: It can’t be solved in the short run. It has something to do with national conditions.

A06

6-3

Interviews with Chinese Developers and Government Representatives (Planning Bureau)

A06-2

Q: What kinds of projects do you prefer to cooperate with foreign architects? Compared with Chinese

designers, what are their advantages?

(The position of products, specific/architecture types, design concepts, the profitable potential of

the investment,/etc.)

A: We don’t choose foreign firm deliberately in some projects, but choose based on the needs of the

project and experience of each firm. Considering certain architecture types and styles, foreign ones

do have more experience and better design concepts than Chinese firms.

Q: What you think is the most popular style of foreign architecture in China?

A: Depending on the style and function.

Q: With what foreign design companies do you cooperate most frequently? Specify the reason.

A: In general, we are cooperating best with American firms. We think they’re very professional.

For example, in our high-end residential project, we have used Robert Stern, a master of neo-classic

from the U.S. It is a huge success, the average price per sq. are 2.5 more than our opponent in

similar location. Although their design fee is much more than LDI, we think it is really worth it.

But when we cooperated with Spanish firms, sometimes we thought their vacations were so long

that it resulted in delay. For example, there was nearly no one working in the whole August.

Q: For the time being, the quality of foreign companies that enter local market is quite uneven, what

are your criteria to choose your partners? Will you do researches on the companies?(Fame, Ranking

of output value, design concepts, salaries and profits, the PR abilities, catering to local market or

not)

A: We will do the research. If possible, we will visit their projects and studio. Moreover, if we have

cooperated with the firm, we have an internal evaluation system to provide information for other

branches

Q: What are the problems about management and communication you meet in the process of

cooperation? (Like traditional architectural FengShui, amendments to the drawings, Adding work

load but not raise money…)

A: Our members in design department have the architecture background, and mostly have good

communicating skills. So we can solve the problems in communication and management.

Q: What problems of Sino-foreign cooperation projects will you meet under current system and

national conditions and how do you solve them? (Like, the design process of foreign firms is out of

sync with the construction drawing design process of domestic firms, non-transparency of bidding,

the gap between design concept and actual level of construction…)

Qinshi He

Assistant General Manager

Design Management Center

Xiamen Vanke Real Estate Development Co., Ltd.

A06

6-4

Interviews with Chinese Developers and Government Representatives (Planning Bureau)

A: It’s mainly about construction level aspect. But our design department also has the duty to ensure it

is constructed in the best way.

A06

6-5

Interviews with Chinese Developers and Government Representatives (Planning Bureau)

A06-3

Q: What kinds of projects do you prefer to cooperate with foreign architects? Compared with Chinese

designers, what are their advantages? (The position of products, specific/architecture types, design

concepts, the profitable potential of the investment, etc.)

A: There are two types from our perspective:

One is villa/resort/recreation; the other is commercial buildings/mixed-use complex.

More mature on design concepts, good for promoting the projects.

Q: What you think is the most popular style of foreign architecture in China?

A: High-end shopping mall, luxury resort.

Q: With what foreign design companies do you cooperate most frequently? Specify the reason.

A: At the present stage, we mainly cooperate with the firms of Taiwan and Hong Kong in terms of club

projects, villa projects and interior design. We don’t have much problems in the communication.

Q: For the time being, the quality of foreign companies that enter local market is quite uneven, what

are your criteria to choose your partners? Will you do researches on the companies?

A: We mainly depend on friends’ recommendation.

Q: What are the problems about management and communication you meet in the process of

cooperation?

A: In the language, it could be better if there is Chinese in the foreign firms.

Q: What problems of Sino-foreign cooperation projects will you meet under current system and

national conditions and how do you solve them? (Like, the design process of foreign firms is out of

sync with the construction drawing design process of domestic firms, non-transparency of bidding,

the gap between design concept and actual level of construction…)

A: There are some conflicts between design of foreign firms and China's urban management

specification. But we can’t inform all the specification to the foreign designers at the beginning of

design. For example, urban management regulations in Tianjin are strict. It’s forbidden to have the

balcony on the public architectures. It turns out we have to make significant changes in our hotel

project.

Q: Do you know about architecture design in Norway?

A: No.

Changhe Geng

Chairman

Juchuan Investment Group

A06

6-6

Interviews with Chinese Developers and Government Representatives (Planning Bureau)

A06-4

Q: What are your views on domestic design conditions? What kind of design is needed in China?

A: The environment is harsh and disordered. The companies competed with lower price and uneven

qualities. They always fudge the work to meet the deadlines. China needs some independent and

exquisite design.

Q: In what type of projects, you would choose to cooperate with foreign design companies? What are

the obstacles encountered in the process of cooperation there?

A: We will choose to cooperate in the important and high-level projects, or some quality medium and

small-scale buildings demanding in design.

The obstacles encountered are mainly in the aspects of communication and building construction.

Foreign firms generally response more slowly and have a longer design cycle. Also, they are not so

clear about the specification and market in China.

Q: What are the foreign companies you cooperation with? What are the criteria? What are the other

learning advantages? What are the disadvantages?

A: I have cooperated with GP, JPI, and interior design or landscape design companies such as Ronald

Lu & Partners, KCA, Elevation Partners, Belt Collins, ACLC and so on. We choose the partners

mainly based on their project performances, experience, design cycle and price.

They have the advantage that they are more professional and devoted to the work than the firms in

China. They will deliver higher-quality drawings and more careful design. They have the weakness

of slow response and unfamiliarity of the specification.

Q: Have you ever cooperate with the Norwegian designers? What are your impressions of Norway and

the Norwegian architect architectural?

A: No, I don’t know much either. In my mind, it seems to more chance to use wood as the construction

material. It’s natural and ecological.

Q: What strategies will you take if you choose to cooperate with a foreign firm?

A: In the case of R&F, we will choose a firm fit for the production with an appropriate price. The

actual strength of the firm matters most. It depends on the project to set the design cycle. Plenty of

time will be given if possible. Usually we will entrust them deliver the tender invitation blueprint or

deepen drawings. Then we choose a Chinese company to do the construction drawings. It can solve

the problem of specification and building construction.

Junhang Chen

R&F Properties

A06

6-7

Interviews with Chinese Developers and Government Representatives (Planning Bureau)

A06-5

Q: What kinds of projects do you prefer to cooperate with foreign architects? Compared with Chinese

designers, what are their advantages?

A: In the field of architecture and planning, it is very common that foreign companies are welcomed to

participate in megacity planning competitions. The urban design of key areas of cities and also the

design of significant public buildings are major projects for them. Compared with local designers,

foreigners have newer ideas. They are more closed to the trend which shows respect to nature and

builds green and low-carbon. Moreover, they are better in design approaches and abilities to shape

the forms. Therefore, their works are more likely to become new icons.

Q: What you think is the most popular style of foreign architecture in China?

A: I think English and French styles are popular around publics in this market.

Q: With what foreign design companies do you cooperate most frequently? Specify the reason.

A: No fixed partners.

Q: What is your impression to Norwegian architecture design companies? Have you had cooperated

with them and why?

A: I don’t have much impression. I just think they do well in minimalism.

Q: For the time being, the quality of foreign companies that enter local market is quite uneven, what

are your criteria to choose your partners? Will you do researches on the companies?

A: There are a large number of foreign design companies in local market now; it tends to large-scale

ones in China, such as SOM, SWA in terms of architecture and planning. Their design concepts and

standards are above average in Europe and America while their charges are reasonable. Most of

these companies have rooted in China for a few years so that they can provide long-term services.

However, some avant-garde architects can only play roles if it is to build unconventional public

buildings because their ideas are too advancing and their charges are so expensive.

Q: What are the problems about management and communication you meet in the process of

cooperation?

A: In the process of cooperation, generally they couldn’t understand the management system in China

so well. For instance, in the field of architecture and planning, they may not be able to get a clear

idea of the management system that from planning bureau to town planning board then to the

leaders of the cities. Neither do they well understand the statutory drawings like construction

drawings.

Q: What problems of Sino-foreign cooperation projects will you meet under current system and

national conditions and how do you solve them? (Like, the design process of foreign firms is out of

Anonymous Developer

A06

6-8

Interviews with Chinese Developers and Government Representatives (Planning Bureau)

sync with the construction drawing design process of domestic firms, non-transparency of bidding,

the gap between design concept and actual level of construction…)

A: The general solution is to joint with a strong design institute which completes the construction

drawings. To guarantee the quality of the projects, it is necessary to find a powerful design institute

full of working experience with foreign firms or to cooperate with people that had worked or

studied abroad. Besides, some domestic designers easily compromised when it comes to

construction cost and the owner’s will. It is better for foreign designers to get involved in the

process of construction drawing and insist on their own position in order to make sure the

realization of the design.

Q: Do you know about architecture design in Norway?

A: No.

A06

6-9

Interviews with Chinese Developers and Government Representatives (Planning Bureau)

A06-6

Q: According to the new policies concerning comprehensively deepening reforms, what will be the

specific impact of foreign design companies in China and those plans to enter the Chinese market?

A: China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone is an important test point of the reform. One of the new

policies is “The qualification and the maximum limits of foreign control percentage are no longer

required”, which means foreign companies will be easier to enter Chinese market in the future.

Q: In regard to the high energy in urbanization process in China, what are the specific promotion

programs and policies to encourage the development of low-energy, sustainable development of

green building? Will the government choose to cooperation with foreign design companies more

frequently in order to learn successful experiences? What are the foreign companies you

cooperation with? What are the criteria? What are the other learning advantages? What are the

disadvantages?

A: Certificated Green Buildings can get stipend from Chinese Government.

Some types of buildings are got priority in using green technologies.

Q: What are the guidance from the government on the direction of the market share of Chinese

architectural design and building types?(Such as whether the government will increase the size of

educational or medical building construction, control the scale of real estate, etc.)

A: One policy said that “huge public buildings invest by the government should consider domestic

bidding first, if must do international competitions, the design fee should follow the market

guideline and the same for domestic and overseas firms. ”

Shan Hu

Planning Bureau of Guangzhou

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms A07

A07-0 Group Meeting

A07-1 Snøhetta

A07-2 RATIO Arkitekter AS

A07-3 Rambøll Norge AS

A07-4 Dyrvik Arkitekter

A07-5 Ghilardi+Hellsten Arkitekter

A07-6 Niels Torp AS Arkitekter

A07-7 Nordic Office of Architecture

A07

7-1

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

A07-0

Group Meeting

Self-introduction

Introduction of this research project

Introduction to “China Group” in Oslo

Q: What kind of projects you are good at?

A：

Design Range:

Sustainable architecture

Cultural buildings

Transportation

Health-care

Urban & Landscape planning

But residential is hard to compare in China (Cultural Gap, Difference in living style)

Q: We noticed that the design fee level is very high. How you make the clients accept this?

A：Fee:

More expensive but higher efficiency

Less people working\more focused\condensed working

Q: There are mainly small-scaled projects in western countries and how do you handle large projects in

China? And how do you control the process overseas?

A：

Familiar with big projects/companies work in group to solve problems

Each of them has their own advantages in projects

Usually work closely with construction and management from beginning

Norwegian companies and Chinese companies should work together from the beginning and get

continuity in working process

Q: Why Chinese market needs Norwegian architects (your unique and advantage)? What kinds of

requirements you can fulfill to the architectural market in China?

How could you get local government’s trust?

A07

7-2

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

How could you work with local architecture schools to get branded?

Qualities of Norway companies are:

1. We respect environment and natural landscape and often take them as the major subject of design

and hence those projects adapt closely to natural landscape.

2. We adapt to the utilization of materials, and faithful to the essential character of materials.

3. We are with humanistic care and design from the perspectives of end users. These traits are

inherent to Norwegian people.

4. We are very experienced in project management, including construction safety, project control,

process management from conceptual design to implementation and non-hierarchical team

management.

5. We are experienced in the fields of energy-saving and green building and full life cycle

maintenance

6. We are good at the use of light.

7. We are also very reliable and probity

8. Good at cooperation and long-distance working.

Can work through internet working

Technological competence in extremely complicated projects(oil, gas tech)

Project management culture is strong

High efficiency\responsibilities on everyone

Look upon the life-cycle in design\long-term perspective design

Hold entire team(design\construction\infrastructure\etc) in each process

Very interested in cooperation with local universities

Tips for branding

Participate in cultural activities (biennials)

Get influential local projects (cooperated with LDIs)

Give lecture Work with local universities (influence on next generation)

Get reported in local media

Tips from developers’ view

Resort design\recreation building should be trend

Tour estate\cultural estate may be trend in next 5 years

This should be the advantage for Norway companies, no need to compete with American

Companies in commercial project. Landscape is the strong tradition in Norway, tourism is

important.

Topic Discussion

Choose what kind of partner in China (Local firm)?

How to deal with client’s relationships & project?

Should have the competence to communicate and cooperate with.

Don’t have to be big companies but should have connections and good resources.

Can cooperate with China’s Overseas project outside China.

Tips from Government

Norway companies should study the China’s politics

Check in government’s website for cooperation

A07

7-3

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

Summary

The group meeting pointed out some features belong to Norway, and found out a number of possible

strategies of entering China. Fees of Norwegian architects are usually more expensive than the others.

On one hand, this higher fee is a result of the prosperous Norway domestic market. On the other hand,

Norwegian architects are more efficient. And this efficiency comes from the flat structure of

Norwegian firms, where decisions can be made on a rather basic level; therefore no time is wasted on

communication.

The features of Norwegian firms in common are the handling of materials, caring for people,

sustainable point of view and its techniques. The latter 2 can get along with the Chinese point of view,

while there might not be much chance for Norwegian architects to express their intelligence in handling

materials. The sense of using material is deeply connected with the Norwegian nature and culture, but

in the current China market, this sense may be ignored. There have been precedents that the final

material was changed by the owner. So in the design process, architects will have to face the conflict of

concept.

In the meeting, the Chinese presented a few possible strategies, including how to improve social

awareness, win the faith of authority, find local partners and choose the correct type of projects. The

detail of strategies varies from each firm, but in conclusion, to find appropriate local partners, be

positive in cooperation and make frank communication is the base of entering China.

A07

7-4

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

A07-1

Snøhetta

Snøhetta is cultural approach, educational, academic.

Want to make deeper relationship with client instead of come and go

All good designs are based on right communication.

Snøhetta blend architecture and landscape, multi-disciplinary, sort of politics.

Architecture is not about style, it’s about what you give to the public.

Explain the name of Snøhetta

The name of a mountain in Norway, and office on top of a bar

Snøhetta has main offices in New York and Oslo, and small site offices all over the world.

New York Office: South & North America

Oslo Office: Europe / Snøhetta Overseas: rest of the world / Snøhetta Design: VI, Industrial Design,

Graphic Design.

Four aspects of working

Digital-digital

Digital-Analogue

Analogue-Digital

Analogue-Analogue

Maintain the mix of small and big, and make most money from big projects, but keep on training

new people.

In case of Alexandria Library

Contracts with workers’ security rules

Talk to Egyptian company, Nordic transfer into Egypt

All the construction parts were collaborated by both international and local companies.

Make sure the library is open to public, a keyless structure.

People protect the building during the Arab Spring

Showing pictures of projects

make real public buildings

a sense of public ownership

5% of the project budget are required for public art .

A07

7-5

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

cnS: Why focus on Middle East market?

Snøhetta: Actually, the focus is on everywhere. Relationship in that area started from the Alexandria

project.

Snøhetta wants to start relationship of overseas partners and the partners should know the

market very well. He should contribute to what Snøhetta is good at.

C: Already contact some partners in China?

S: In our West Kowloon Project in Hong Kong, we worked with Ronald Lu, they are very professional.

C: How do you get the trust of local government?

S: Snøhetta is well-known

usually approach client who want something special

open the communication

the closer the architect to the user, the better the solution

C: How to control process quality?

S: make dialogue and understanding each other to make sure the strategy is executed

C: About Payment measurement, how to balance economy?

S: relationship with client is important

C: What is the variety of nationalities in the office? (in case of immigration policy)

S: from all over the world

majority is Norwegian

French, German, American, Canadian, Spanish, Japanese, Australia, New Zealand, etc.

There is one Architect from Hong Kong but currently not working on China Projects.

C: What is the uniqueness of Snøhetta to Chinese?

S: Snøhetta don’t really have a certain style.

Summary

Trans-positioning is a feature of Snøhetta, which means architecture design, landscape design and

engineering interplaying with each other in design process instead of making distinct definitions. So

Snøhetta’s projects always have a integrated impression of landscape and architecture. Snøhetta is

active in culture projects and has won many competitions. Currently China is experiencing a culture

architecture bloom, in which Snøhetta may find chances of business. And aiming at particular projects,

especially important projects, will be a possible strategy. But Snøhetta should also keep an eye on other

kinds of project because the current bloom may come to an end at any time.

In addition, Snøhetta is ready to develop long-term relationship with local partners. What this firm

wants is a deep and continuous communication instead of short-term contact of business of a certain

project. Having this in consideration will benefit the development of Snøhetta in China market.

Notable Projects Including…

A07

7-6

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

Norwegian National Opera and Ballet

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

A07

7-7

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

A07-2

RATIO Arkitekter AS

RATIO: The name RATIO is new. We won a hospital competition before with a group architects. Now

we run 2 offices in parallel. At the moment we are doing hospitals, sports facilities and concert halls.

cnS: You can start with introduction of your office because we are going to find out your advantages.

R: OK. We are doing a lot of kinds of projects. Most of the commissions are from competitions. It’s not

good to go to China for commercial housing.

To go into China, our specialists have more competence.

In China we could have interesting idea on hospital design.

The main focus: hospital and also concert hall.

R: Introducing National Hospital

inner street

democracy design

concerned about interior and exterior nature

volume limit of 3 floors

relation with old brick buildings

also a university hospital, there are lectures

for hospital, the focus is not on size, it’s about taking care of people.

R: Showing another hospital project of a different approach…

R: The philosophy is that we have become experts in hospital, but basically we are architects. So we

can do any kind of projects.

The experience of hospital benefits other kinds of projects.

Not afraid of complexity.

C: Have you ever done hospitals in other places than Scandinavia?

R: In Canada, Germany, Yemen.

Involved in some projects in India and Australia.

C: Do you cooperate with local companies or do it independently?

R: Yes. We always cooperate. We can contribute a lot in the beginning, such as planning and logic, but

not much in construction.

C: The Chinese condition of health care is different from western world. It has its own characteristics.

A07

7-8

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

When you entering a new market, do you suggest new solutions or basically follow the way?

R: It’s on both sides. Some demand must be fulfilled but our experience from hospital such as

humanistic point of view is also important.

C: There are international hospitals in Beijing and they are popular among foreign people and high

class Chinese people. So this can be a market.

R: Yes, we were invited by Chinese companies for competitions before.

C: And developers may build private hospital in their large projects instead of state-owned hospitals.

cnS talking about an experience of an architect designing a volunteer hospital for children in

Guangdong but hard to find a LDI, becauce some good LDIs complaining the project is too small.

C: How is the social value represented in your design?

R: Well, it’s a nature of our design. We think Norway is the flattest country in the world. Nurses and

patients can contribute to its healing. We try to facilitate exchange of knowledge. Decisions can be

made on low level.

C: It’s unrealistic to make research of the specific projects overseas. It’s a different situation. What do

you do?

R: To manage this process we need to collaborate in China.

But there may be conflicts in culture.

In East Asia, people don’t directly express negative answer.

C: You could collaborate with universities in China. Some design institute are attached with schools.

And the professors are doing projects, too. So this may be a way of collaboration.

C: What is the status of architects in Norway?

R: For income level. Architects are almost the same like the others. Difference is quite small.

C: How about doctors. Are they similar to architects?

R: Yes.

C: How’s the public and private hospital system here in Norway?

R: There are old hospitals founded by charities.

And there are new ones catering for very rich or narrow segment.

Almost everyone goes to the public, but not completely free, you will give money to the doctors like

fees.

C: In some other countries there are also public free health care, but people have to wait for a long

queue.

R: This is the same in Norway.

And Norwegians have high expectation for health care that everything can be fixed. But the fact is

that not everything can be fixed, so there is a huge disappointment

Summary

RATIO is good at designing hospitals. And the care for people is very essential in the philosophy of its

design, which helps RATIO complete a great number of hospitals.

A07

7-9

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

When entering China market, RATIO would better maintain the strategy of hospital-oriented design,

and give full attention to the differences between hospitals in China and Norway. Firstly, the entire

health care environment here in China is different, so is the policy and concept, even the relation

between doctors and patients. Though China is developing its health system towards a western way,

China is far behind Nordic countries. So RATIO should avoid simply copying the experience in

Norway projects. Besides, even the humanistic touch in design is accepted in China, it’s still a

challenge to make it solid in completed projects, which need architects’ effort.

Notable Projects Including…

Rikshospitalet (National Hospital)

Kommunenes Hus

A07

7-10

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

A07-3

Rambøll Norge AS

Rambøll: We have offices worldwide. Mostly in Nordic area. And one office in Beijing.

Video Playing

We are the biggest consulting company in Nordic region.

Our employees including landscape architects, city planners, environment planners and engineers.

Technical specialists. Responsible approach.

Not owned by any person, it’s a foundation (97% of shares). Employees’ shares for 3%.

Ranked No.97 by architects number.

In Nordic area, most architects are in Norway. About 100 architects, 60 landscape architects, 10

interior designers and some lighting designers in this office.

Sections of projects: housing, commercial, culture, industry, health.

Showing Projects

Don’t have architects in Oslo, but a small office there.

Statoil project

Underground school project

Refurbishment project

Health care centre

A concert hall in an industrial building. Moving structures out. Best toilet. Relax, don’t have to sit

down and watch.

Scale of projects from hospital to small buildings.

R: We are in family of engineers.

cnS: How many similar offices like yours in Norway?

R: Very few. The most famous offices are not those combined ones.

R: We are also doing other things besides architecture, like analysis and management.

Small pocket office space of 8~15 people in buildings. That’s the Scandinavian tradition.

Donut model

Work space planners, Nordic expertise, so the development cold be interesting in China for some

companies. This is different from America’s big open space. It’s more humanistic and small scaled.

C: When you do small scale space design, do you make any research before this?

R: Yes. We will discuss with clients, to know the requirements, number of people working inside.

A07

7-11

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

Basically offer open space for communication.

R: The advantages of separate offices are comfort and calm environment, disadvantages is not enough

intersection with people. Most of our work is not just applying to the model. We are still developing

and having lessons of that.

C: Rambøll is something like SOM, ARUP, so is there any interests in China?

R: We are late comers. As a group, we are interested in coming into China. The most interesting thing

will be city planning, sustainability, and the handling of water. That’s part of the strategy.

New markets as Turkey and China will be potential markets for hospitals and we can corporate with

governments. Nordic countries can provide excellent elderly care solutions combined services.

C: When entering China market, will you also act as a consulting company?

R: Yes.

C: In case of sustainability, What is your advantages?

R: In UK, Stockholm and Copenhagen, we have climate experts, water experts, city development

connected to water and carbon circulation… a lot of experts in that fields. Involving that in master

plan level or above will be competitive. And we have strong rules of low energy and high

sustainability in Norway.

R: In Norway, architects are doing projects both satisfying the rules and guaranteeing space quality. We

also considering of energy when house is being built.

C: Is there any independent sustainability system in Norway?

R: It is run by the Norwegian Green Council. There is BREEAM Nor, but for a BREEAM certificate

you have to report to Britain.

Denmark prefers the German system. In Sweden some use BREEAM, some use LEED.

BREEAM is the most common.

C: Are you familiar with the Chinese law, regulations or policies of design?

R: Not really. But regulation is not that difficult. The most important thing is to establish relationship

for Rambøll, then how to find partners, to find client, to cooperate with government.

C: I heard that Norwegian architects don’t go out much is because there are many domestic projects?

R: I don’t think so. I think it’s because we are expensive to hire.

R: Things are changing. Norwegian architecture companies are becoming more and more international.

R: Basic work is really expensive in Norway, it’s not that much more expensive than other countries.

So consultancy must go first because it’s highly specialized.

C: Is it very hierarchy in project management?

R: No. In Norway it’s very flat. It’s part of the culture.

Summary

Rambøll Norge AS consists of designers of architecture, urban planning, interior, landscape and civil

engineering, and the size its projects varies from the small buildings to large building complex. This

office has 2 features very different from other Norwegian firms.

Firstly, Rambøll Norge AS can benefit from its parent company, Rambøll. Rambøll is a international

A07

7-12

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

consultancy based in Copenhagen. From numerous projects worldwide, Rambøll Norge AS enjoys

abundant experiences. And this cannot be easily copied by other firms. If Rambøll Norge AS makes full

use of this advantage, it will have more chance in the competition in China market.

The other is the DNA of consultancy in Rambøll Norge AS. The experts in this field is professional in

world class, who enabled very high-tech projects, such as petroleum engineering, hydraulic engineering

and so on. This is also an exclusive advantage. Showing consideration of these high-tech solutions in

the master plan will make Rambøll Norge AS more competitive.

Moreover, Rambøll Norge AS is familiar with BREEAM, which can fulfilled the requirements of

sustainable design.

Notable Projects Including…

Statoil Regional and International Offices / a-lab

Architects：a-lab

Landscape：Rambøll Norge AS

Nedregate Culture District / Space Group

Architects：Space Group

Consultancy：Rambøll Norge AS

A07

7-13

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

A07-4

Dyrvik Arkitekter

Strength

Focus on culture building (notably)

Apartment

senior housing

education

commercial

urbanism

Understanding of the site/location/task/how people would use it

No landscape architects in company but cooperate with landscape companies

BREEAM \use BIM for green building

Showing pictures of projects

Example:

Myntgata 2

New building create a plaza behind the old building

Made of stone (A type of marble in Norway)

A07

7-14

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

Hasle-Linje

515 homes

The area is for industrial in the past

Work in group with master plan then do different buildings like

Housing

Commercials

Culture building

Focus on good daylight for building

Equal quality for apartments

Q: Do you have any experience of working overseas?

A: No, not yet, want to look outside.

Good at making competitions, one of the most winning offices.

Q: What is your project management process?

A: Use openness in communication, come together in workshop, everybody knows the job.

Q: For one project how many engineers or architects would be involving?

A: Senior projects 3-4 active architects, one would be leader.

Each Monday we have meeting of all the architects about ongoing projects and discuss together.

Project leader would exchange ideas on controlling idea.

Q: How much time you need to give concept design?

A: It depends on how much time do you give us……normally when having completion it is about

1.5-2 months. 2-4 people working constantly some people would help when comes to the final.

Q: Because for Chinese projects, we require higher for foreign architects to do the concept and let the

local firm to do construction, it is a kind of rule. What is your purpose of the rate of fee?

A: around 1000 Nok / hour.

Q: Does it decide by the complexity of the projects?

A: No, when make an offer, we see how many square meters and take the effective complexity then

multiply by square meters. For a culture building it would be 1.5-4 hour/m2, 1.5hour/m

2 for

housing.

Q: For Chinese client sometimes they use price/m2 or for concept stage it would be a specific amount

of money, how will you deal with the difference of price system when doing project overseas?

A: When doing competitions we get fixed money too, about 300nok/h. Since we haven’t worked

overseas, we would learn different price systems and negotiate

Q: Do you familiar with any Chinese construction situation?

A: No.

Q: Do you feel interested in exploring project to China?

A: Yes, that’s why we are in group, we would like to see the possibility in China, we can talk to a SHL,

A07

7-15

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

and collaborate with them

Depend on Chinese construction situation, the government prefer to build the cultural, education

building, I think you should do some research on these market

Q: What is your design philosophy?

A: Renew and innovation, quality and experience, investigate new solutions, respect landscape,

equality

Q: What is the obstacle when working with the Germany architects as consultants?

A: Communication, Culture gap

Q: Do you have workshop with architecture schools right now? Is there any possibility for you to

participate in the cultural activities like workshop, forum and biennale?

A: Yes, and now we are collaborate with some schools.

Summary

Dyrvik is good at cultural architecture design, which coincides with the current trend in China, so

Dyrvik may have chance in the competition in China market. In the discussion, Dyrvik proposed its

rates of design, for overseas competitions and actual projects are 300 and 1000 nok respectively.

So far Dyrvik has no overseas projects yet and among these Norwegian firms in the group, Dyrvik is

short for some special advantage; therefore, collaboration can be essential in the strategy of entering

China. In this case, cooperating with universities and going into exhibitions or biennales may work for

raising social awareness.

Notable Projects Including…

Forusbeen

Hasle Linje

A07

7-16

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

A07-5

Ghilardi+Hellsten Arkitekter

cnS: I notice that, you are very unique because you would do some research jobs such as the mining

project, so what is the difference of you while designing projects?

Ghilardi+Hellsten Arkitekter: I think we would find the uniqueness and always work with

architecture, landscape and urbanism at the same time to put some knowledge into the projects. We

always work with parallel process and different types of thinking.

C: So I think your advantage is the research right?

G: Not only theory, we do further into design, and test it, that is important too

C: Do you have any strategies if you want to explore into China market?

G: The first step is knowing someone that we can trust (Thomas Wang). We are currently looking for

competitions.

C: I think it might be good to find a Chinese company to cooperate like you can do some consultant in

the first step because Chinese companies have the experience, so you just have to concentrate on

research and projects and Chinese companies need your knowledge and management too.

G: The cooperation will be beneficial.

C: As your main partners are not all from Norway and they have been in Harvard GSD, do you think

your company is different from typical Norway companies or more American style?

G: Our backgrounds are different, we are quite international, but it is hard to define whether we are

typical Norway companies or not.

C: What kind of project you are good at?

G: Commercial

Offices

Competitions

Public space

Landscape

Master planning.

C: Do you familiar with Chinese policies on architecture market or do you have any plan to explore

into building construction market. Do you like to cooperate with local firm?

G: I think cooperation is good.

C: Do you have any oversea projects experience so you can be supervise (consultant) of the projects?

Because when foreign companies do project in the China mainland, it is very hard to control to the end,

the rule is different.

G: Knowing rules is difficult…depends on the projects.

A07

7-17

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

C: Because you are very good at research, I think if you would like to participate in the biennale in

China to get branded.

Summary

Ghilardi+Hellsten Arkitekter is an international design firm, who is good at commercial, office, urban

planning and other public projects. Blending architecture, landscape and urban planning is insisted in

its approach. The firm tries to find out the uniqueness of the site and reflect it in the architecture

proposal.

Ghilardi+Hellsten Arkitekter makes adequate researches before design and analyzes the result, finally

apply the solution in an innovated way according to the deduction. Therefore theory is not everything

for this firm, to make good use of it is the essential part. According to this advantage,

Ghilardi+Hellsten Arkitekter can try to do branding in collaborations with institutions or biennales.

Notable Projects Including…

RUTEN,PREQUALIFIED COMPETITION 2012

NEDRE FOSS PUBLIC PARK OPEN COMPETITION IN OSLO

A07

7-18

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

A07-6

Niels Torp AS Arkitekter

Relationship with the authorities？

Local institutions more responsible to deal with the authorities

We also do office development for big companies

We do

office building

residential

hotels

landmark buildings

C:Did you have ever applied the green building evaluation in Norway? Like BREEAM and

LEED?

N:We use BREEAM normally. We have two people especially for this.

Introduction the China Eastern Airlines Headquarters in Shanghai

It’s a quite exciting project, it is 240000m2 for 12000 employees

And also for hotel with 400 rooms

This is a little city and in the square area we make a park

the space between the park is interesting

We work with East China Design Institute and ARUP and link with them

We also have another small architecture company called CEA in Shanghai that we have cooperation

with.

C:How do you get the Chance of this project?

N:We have been involved in many airline headquarters projects, and when China Eastern Airlines was

planning their new headquarters, they paid specific visits to similar projects in many places around the

world. The delegation was deeply impressed by SAS headquarters and when they were meeting our

design team, they offered invitation to the international tender. Fortunately, we stood out of many

competitors and finally won the project.

We did an airport project with Nordic before, and now Nordic is doing the expansion, which we are not

doing. But for many years we have a company partner together but now we separated.

C:How you contact with the Chinese Clients? Any difficulty you find.

N:In general it was very good. Even with the time difference, We can send the file to them the end of

the day, and the other morning we have the feedback from China. And now E-mail + video conference

are also very convenience for project discussion.

The biggest difficulty is miscommunication.

A07

7-19

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

C:How frequent you visit China?

N:I visit China every month, and stay there one week each time.

Do you have a plan to open a China office?

We don’t have this plan so far.

Summary

The expertise of Niels Torp AS Arkitekter includes office building, hotel, housing and landmark design.

Besides, the firm has two experts working particularly BREEAM. The initial starting point of Niels

Torp AS Arkitekter’s design is the human scale, natural human need for warm and care for variety in

environment.

In China, Niels Torp AS Arkitekter has already done one large-scaled project, the HQ of China Eastern

Airlines. In the beginning, China Eastern Airlines held a competition for the architecture and invited

some offices to take part. Niels Torp AS Arkitekter won the competition and this became its very first

success in China. From then on Niels Torp AS Arkitekter has enjoyed a smooth cooperation with China

Eastern Airlines, LDI and Local design studio. In addition, Arup is also in good relationship with Niels

Torp AS Arkitekter.

Notable Projects Including…

China Eastern Airlines Headquarters in Shanghai

Nils Ericson Terminal

A07

7-20

Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

A07-7

Nordic Arkitekter

Nordic: You asked me about what we can contribute to China. After the presentation I will show you

the contemporary Norwegian architecture.

N: I’ve been working in this company for 22 years, and have been a partner for the latest 13 years. Our

ambition to work worldwide.

Interests in China:

Competitive in housing projects

Commercial

Hospital

Airport

hospital and airport are projects that need to be logically simple and not scare people, can find

physical solutions

Sustainable Design

Long-last Material

Growing middle class has need for higher level of service

N: To answer what is exactly Norwegian approach to design with a video.

Video playing (tradition)

always interplay with landscape and climate

100-year perspective, different from America’s 20~30-year perspective

Another video playing (Nordic works)

focus on sustainable design for 20 years and have experts in the field

quality control

also doing urban planning

avoid surprises because they are expensive

N: The point of China inviting foreign architects is not fancy features, it should be a way of corporation

and the thinking behind design is important, the design is just a result.

N: About the India airport, to visualize everything.

The world is changing rapidly and the wish to involve is very big.

A07

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Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

cnS: Are you still responsible after the project is finished?

N: Yes. Responsible in both legal way and moral way. The owners are very concerned about the long

term perspective. So we make good team to focus on this and we are used to that. We can contribute

new technique, material, low energy method, etc, to China. Norway is high cost society but very

effective. 5 people team can make large project. So in this way we are competitive.

N: About cost:

Starchitects are always expensive

even hourly-rates are high, but still competitive because we are so much more effective and can

produce very much on small teams

decision-making structure also highly effective

C: How many architects do you need for a team?

N: It depends on the complexity.

C: Is it that you have a very strong director to make things integrated?

N: Architects are responsible. Everyone in the team has personal responsibility and contributes to the

design.

C: How’s the social status of architects in Norway?

N: It’s good and the income is on a higher level. Architecture is a popular major and difficult to get

into.

C: How do your projects represent the social value?

N: It’s a natural way of thinking. If you have a 100-year perspective, the first 2 years are important for

making the plan. The consideration of democracy and political thinking are important for long term

quality.

C: Some employees come from other countries, how do they adapt to this way of thinking?

N: That’s the management thing. Most of employees are foreigners but managers are Norwegians.

C: How does the Norwegian authority corporate with public housing or other public projects?

N: They are very good. They emphasize on low energy cost, too. Very strict and demanding. But they

haven’t been that much evolved in marketing.

C: Do they support?

N: The have competition. If you win, you get commission. They haven’t supported marketing activities

yet.

C: What is the national architectural policy?

N: It focuses on sustainable ability mainly.

C: What is the result of more and more people getting old in Norway? Where do they live?

N: Quite a few selections. Mostly in institutions. Growing middle class Chinese are demanding on

higher level of services. We know the needs and the qualities.

C: So far have you done projects in China?

N: No.

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Field Investigation in and Interviews with Norwegian Architecture Firms

Summary

The former part of the discussion is mainly about the general information of Nordic Office of

Architecture, and the latter part is focused on the Norway market instead of this office.

Nordic is professional in health care architecture, airports, and commercial architecture design. And

airport design is the feature that only belongs to Nordic among these Norwegian firms. The airport

project of Nordic is mostly middle and small scaled, which were mainly built in North Europe. But to

add something more in the list, there is an airport project in India. The most notable project is the Oslo

International Airport and its future extension. Now China has made policies to encourage the

development of regional aviation, and airport projects begin to bloom in the inferior cities. Also the

airports in the biggest cities are still growing. Therefore Nordic may win some contracts in this trend.

In addition, Nordic is very confident in its competence in green building design, and it emphasizes the

long-term perspective of design.

Notable Projects Including…

OSLO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT — EXPANSION TOWARDS 2017

GLOSTRUP HOSPITAL - NEURO CENTRE