ALLEN JACK+COTTIER has won the contract for a mixed-use development design in Suqian City, China.

The contract is to design a mixed development on the east bank of the Grand Canal in Suqian City, Jiangsu province, China. The development includes a five-star hotel, serviced apartments, villas, retail and golf course.

The Grand Canal, linking Hangzhou in the south with Beijing in the north, is the\ longest canal in the world, covering 1776 km, and one of the oldest, dating back to the 5th century BC. The design, submitted in conjunction with ASA Architects, uses the Grand Canal as its design source. An artificial channel draws water from the Grand Canal into the site forming a major axis which leads directly to the grand atrium of the hotel.

The winning plan uses roof gardens, water harvesting, reed ponds, grey water re-cycling and high energy efficient double glazing systems.

ALLEN JACK+COTTIER has also announced plans for a new community in Xian – home of the Terracotta Army.

The master-plan for the new community is on an 1800 hectare site to the west of the old walled city of Xian and straddles the Feng River.

Rather than managing the flooding river with dams and levy banks, the design aims to use the natural benefits of the flood zones to create a positive amenity for the site and its new occupants with wetlands on the east bank absorbing run-off in flood periods, while a golf course occupies the unbuildable flood zone to the west.

ASPECT STUDIOS has won a design contract for the tallest building in Jinan, Shandong province.

The 350-metre high Pulimen Center and surrounds will be the site of the tallest building in Jinan in Shandong after completion, comprising high quality offices, retail outlets and a new park.

The public domain is defined by a 500-metre long, elevated landscape spine connecting the park to the commercial tower and retail complex with accompanying plazas for outdoor recreation, promotions and passive recreation. The design of the park seeks to enliven the edges of the precinct and promote a rich public realm.

ANZ OPENS SUB BRANCH IN BEIJING In July, ANZ opened its fifth outlet in China – in Beijing’s ‘Silicon Valley’ – in Zhongguancun, a high-tech business district in Beijing.

The sub-branch will provide a full range of local and foreign currency services to small and medium enterprises and individual foreigners, and assist local residents with foreign currency personal banking needs and local currency deposits of CNY1 million and above. Zhongguancun is located in the Northwest of Beijing and is home to more than 300 academic research institutions and universities as well as more than 20,000 high-tech companies.

ANZ has four other outlets in China in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

ANZ also has strategic partnerships in two of China’s key growth regions – a 19.9 percent stake in the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank and a 20 percent stake in the Bank of Tianjin and operates a 100 percent ANZ-owned rural bank in Liangping county – the Chongqing Liangping ANZ Rural Bank Co Ltd.

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