Chapman Taylor: 2024 Business Review

Over the last year, our unwavering commitment to good design and environmental sustainability has been a driving force in our projects. Our key growth markets in Azerbaijan and the Middle East continue to show promising growth, and we anticipate further expansion in the coming financial year. The mixed-use, retail and residential sectors remain our stronghold, with numerous large ongoing projects being designed and constructed across the globe.

UK

Early 2024 saw London welcome its first new mainline station in a decade with the recent unveiling of Brent Cross West Station. Collaboratively delivered by Chapman Taylor and WSP, this contemporary station stands as a pivotal piece of the city's infrastructure, acting as a catalyst for growth in this area of North London.

Two key city centre residential schemes have been completed over the last year - West Hampstead Central and Capella in Kings Cross, both in London. Several large residential projects remain on-site, including Friary Park - the former Nestle Factory in Hayes, Springfields in East London, Eastman Village - the old Kodak site in Harrow, and Greenford Road in Greenford.

We have also just been awarded planning permission for a new 30-storey residential tower in Lower Riverside, Greenwich Peninsula, London, which will provide 300 new homes. Planning was also approved for Queen’s Hospital Close, an innovative blend of 189 Build-to-Rent apartments and 728 Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) residential bedrooms in Birmingham.

Construction has concluded successfully at Hotel Indigo in Coventry, marking another milestone in our portfolio. We also completed a cutting-edge workplace on the 10th floor of Orange Building in MediaCity, Salford, Manchester, UK. This milestone is part of our continued efforts to shape the MediaCity Workplace Design Strategy.

Europe

This year, we completed one project in Paris: Le Spot in the shopping centre Evry 2. We continue to work on several luxury residential schemes in Spain, including the construction of a number of luxury villas in Ibiza.

In Germany, two residential projects in Nürnberg and Fürth are currently on site, and a renovation of a judicial court in Duisburg has just been completed. A Chapman Taylor-designed cinema in the new Westfield Überseequartier in Hamburg is nearly finished and will open in February 2025. SEGRO Park Düsseldorf which will offer 22,400m2 of flexible commercial space, divisible into units ranging from 400 to 2,000m2, started onsite in September and is one of the largest current developments in Düsseldorf.

In Spain, we are developing a new shopping centre—Nasas Madrid in the sports city of Aletico de Madrid. We are also redeveloping Breogan Park shopping centre in A Coruña.

We are also working on major retail refurbishments in Croatia, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain. The third construction phase at Pinea Resort in the Baltic city of Pobierowo, Poland, is underway.

In the Czech Republic, the fit-out of the Scott.Weber workspace at the DOCK building in Prague has been completed and has won a prestigious Kanceláře Roku (Office of the Year) 2024 Award. Chapman Taylor is also leading the design of 'Habitat', a new sustainable residential neighbourhood in Malešice, Prague. W-Hotel in Prague opened, for which Chapman Taylor was responsible for the interior design of the heritage areas. This luxury hotel weaves the demands of top-quality hospitality with contemporary design and the faithful restoration of one of Prague’s best-known art-nouveau monuments.

In Bucharest, the completion of phase 2 of U-Center will see world-class tenants fill all 35,000m2 of the multi-award-winning, Leed Platinum-certified office space.

In Albania, Chapman Taylor has been commissioned to design the Arameras Resort in Ksamil, Albania. These carefully combine mixed-use functions with the ecology and character of each location. Ferra & CO Retail and Entertainment Park project in Durres, Albania, has now obtained its development permit from the local authorities. We are now completing work stage two on this project.

In Georgia, we are developing Sioni Resort, a hotel and apartment complex, and a shopping centre under the Orbi Towers in Batumi.

China

Over 950,000m2 of our workplace-led mixed-use projects are under construction including Zhangjiang Gaoke Office park in Shanghai, and our project the International Offshore Financial Centre for Shandong Energy Group in the Jiangdong district of Haikou, both are due to be completed at the end of 2024.

Our Shanghai studio has also designed a series of important bridges, two of which are currently under construction, including Yun Qiao Road Bridge in Shanghai.

Our interior design project for the five-level Wuyue Plaza in Urumqi, Northwest China, has now opened in the retail sector. ZEEKR, a pioneering force in the new energy vehicle industry, opened the Chapman Taylor designed 1st phase of its headquarters office in Hangzhou in November.

This year we have won several prestigious design competitions, further cementing our reputation as one of the leading masterplanners in the region. Among the winning designs was a competition to redesign the Dongjing Road Metro depot in Shanghai, and the competition-winning urban masterplan design for Sanya Jiyang Area in Hainan province. We are also working on an ambitious vision for the urban renewal of Dongsiwenli district in Jing'an, Shanghai. Spanning a total area of 90 hectares, the plans include preserving and re-using approximately 60,000m2 of heritage buildings.

Middle East

In Saudi Arabia, Chapman Taylor is now working in over twenty cities and on several of the Kingdom's prestigious giga projects.

Construction is still underway at the 123,000m² GBA Porta Jeddah mixed-use development in Jeddah. Construction at Madinah Hub, in the pilgrimage city of Madinah, is now well advanced. This 392,000m² development will deliver a comprehensive mixed-use district for the city.

In Riyadh, we continue to progress the design for our Enar mixed-use development project. This iconic project integrates residential, commercial, and tourism spaces and spans an impressive 250,000m2, with a total built-up area of 750,000m2 and an investment of SR5 billion. We have also completed the design of a new banking headquarters in Riyadh, which is currently under construction, and the first phase of a 450-square-kilometre masterplan.

In Abu Dhabi, the Chapman Taylor-designed Saadiyat Beach District Residences project, part of the larger Saadiyat Island Masterplan for Nael & Bin Harmel, is progressing to the construction stage.

In Egypt, our project Palm Hills Developments, has officially unveiled the masterplan for Phase 1 of its latest project, P/X, located in the heart of Giza's Palm Hills neighbourhood. Spread across 150 hectares, the P/X masterplan is meticulously designed to offer residents a holistic living environment. The development features lush green landscapes, jogging tracks, water features, and a clubhouse.

Chapman Taylor’s designed sustainable business park has also gone on-site at Palm Hills, New Cairo. The Admin Park, a large part of Palm Hills’ mixed-use flagship development Palmet in New Cairo, is a sustainable business park designed in response to the local climate and to promote environmental and social responsibility.

Central Asia

We continue to work on several important city masterplans in Azerbaijan, which is a key growth market for us. In Baku, we are working on the concept design phases of large office and residential schemes.

In Kazakhstan the construction of the prestigious Almaty Museum of Arts is progressing well and will open in 2025. We have also designing projects in Astana, Karaganda and Shymkent.

In Uzbekistan a number of Chapman Taylor projects are being built in Tashkent and approval was received for a 15.5-hectare mixed-use masterplan in the city centre.

South and South-East Asia

Chapman Taylor’s Bangkok studio has completed the new District Command Centre (DCC) interior design within the 'One Bangkok' mixed-use district in Bangkok. The One Bangkok US$3.9 billion development is poised to become a benchmark in smart, sustainable urban living. The DCC is the nerve centre for One Bangkok, providing centralised services such as lighting, mechanical and energy management, safety, and security.

We are also designing prestigious hospitality projects in Thailand, and we are currently working in Cambodia, Vietnam and the Maldives.

In India, we are involved in many workplace, residential and cultural projects across the country, many of which are under construction. Chapman Taylor has been appointed to provide Lead Design Consultancy services for the Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir (VCM) temple in Vrindavan. This ambitious project will feature the world's tallest religious building, the Central Shikhar, which will reach a height of 220 metres.

Dolmen Mall Lahore, a landmark retail destination, has officially opened its doors to the public in December, marking a significant milestone in Pakistan’s shopping and leisure landscape. This state-of-the-art, 75,000m² GLA shopping centre is set to become a principal city hub for retail, dining, and entertainment.

Responsible Design

As a business, we continue to focus on our sustainable design capabilities across our studios. Our architects are using speaking opportunities and media articles to communicate Responsible Design issues such as the circular economy, the housing affordability crisis and the decarbonisation of our building stock through retrofits. We continue to work closely with external consultants to deliver high levels of certifications for our projects, including BREEAM, LEED, Nabers, and WELL.

We continue to undertake annual Carbon Footprint Assessments of our Studios and have establish KPIs to enable us to set achievable targets for reducing our greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement commitments.

Awards

In 2024, Chapman Taylor received 17 industry-leading awards, including a Janus de La Cité Award for the Le Spot at Evry 2, Île-de-France, France, the Asia Pacific Property Award for Best Hotel Architecture for Future Hotel - Curio by Hilton in Chongqing, China, and the Architectural Firm of the Year at the SEE Real Estate Awards in Bucharest, Romania.

Moving into 2025 ...

We have many projects being designed and under construction in countries across the World and in all our key market sectors, with notable schemes in Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, China, Cambodia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Georgia, Germany, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Mexico, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, UAE, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

We look forward to working collaboratively with our partners in the year ahead to create well-designed, sustainable places and environments.