P A G E 6 P A G E 7 S W I R E P R O P E R T I E S S W I R E P R O P E R T I E S Swire Properties: 50 years of transformational placemaking Setting standards The opportunity for global recognition A new city Swire Properties’ history has been one of conceiving, creating, managing and then enhancing extraordinary places; accepting the special obligation it has to Hong Kong and the cities in which it operates; to contributing places of value. Its commitment to the creative transformation of the urban landscape and the formation of dynamic communities has helped shape the company over the past five decades. In reality, Swire Properties has been defined by the places it has created and the human stories it has shaped. Helped by a supportive 200-year-old parent, history and legacy have ingrained indelible traits on Swire Properties and its employees. All decisions are made with an acute focus on the long-term and with a deep sense of responsibility to Hong Kong and to the cities in which the company operates. This has resulted in a series of thriving communities among which Swire Properties has grown up and is proud to be a part of. In 1985 Swire Properties purchased a seemingly isolated plot of land in Admiralty, then home to the former Victoria Barracks. Envisaging the masterplan for a successful future that no one else imagined at the time, created fertile ground for transformative placemaking. On a notable tract of land in a prime location, with an original idea and a blueprint, conveniently connected to the rest of the city. Gaining status over the past four decades as a pioneering integrated development, Pacific Place has demonstrated that the best places are deliberately created with intent, ensuring that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Top-tier office space that extended Central Business District; a cluster of five-star hotels, exclusive high-rise serviced apartments and an ingeniously-designed retail stage created a new benchmark for mixed-use developments in the region; putting Admiralty firmly on the map. And Swire Properties’ visionary master plan didn’t stop there. An innovative new tunnel linking Pacific Place with Wan Chai allowed careful extension into the surrounding community. This delivered a plan of revitalisation for Star Street Precinct – with prime office space, re-designed residences and an enhanced streetscape, the vibrant backdrop to new shops, bars, restaurants and landscaped open spaces. Returning to a historical Hong Kong neighbourhood the refreshed hallmarks of texture, colour and personality; even willingly investing resources on initiatives to the benefit of the wider community. In the decade before the turn of the 21 st century, Hong Kong had begun to identify new commercial zones and vibrant employment hubs across the city. One was Quarry Bay, where Swire Properties had over 100 years of association. The company seized a unique opportunity – invested in land and built a premium office- led infrastructure. And ultimately, its transformation into the present-day global business district, Taikoo Place. This has been placemaking on a grand scale. Taikoo Place is now home to over 300 international corporations and successfully serves the widest needs of more than 35,000 office workers. Anchored by two MTR stations, with ten premium office towers, including One and Two Taikoo Place, Hong Kong’s smartest and greenest offices, the complex is inventively connected by an expansive series of elevated footbridges. With vibrant hubs enhanced by the convenience of restaurants, bars and a members’ club, and with EAST offering residences and a lifestyle hotel on the doorstep, Taikoo Place delivers the efficiencies of business life balanced by recreational spaces. Here, landscaped gardens and parks are brought to life by artistic installations, seasonal markets and a dedicated approach to sustainable community-building. Rewind to 50 years ago, and there were scarce ready-made examples of placemaking, if any, in Hong Kong. In 1972, few could have predicted that the newly formed Swire Properties would transform an old dockyard and sugar refinery into a thriving new district. Buoyed by the company’s creative thinking and ability to find original solutions, Swire Properties was able to achieve ground-breaking residential design that would improve lives, of a type never seen before on Hong Kong Island. As Taikoo Shing’s 61 towers emerged in 11 stages, so did the supporting amenities Swire Properties cleverly identified - based entirely on what the new residents required and creating lifestyle amenities beyond anything previously imagined. A neighbourhood shopping centre was built, Cityplaza, still the largest mall on Hong Kong Island. New office towers would drive a growing traffic of customers to the shops and restaurants. With the opening of the MTR Island Line and the Central Wan Chai bypass, Swire Properties had created what was to prove a template for success – a thriving, fully- integrated, mixed-use community connected by excellent transportation. EAST further enhanced the offering of the district, becoming a lifestyle hotel, integral to the social fabric of the local community. This was a tale of ‘firsts’. The city’s first ice rink in a mall, one of the first residential estates to incorporate public art and green spaces, landscaped for pleasure and relaxation.