The Chinese Year of the Rabbit could be a prosperous one, with the rabbit – the fourth animal in the Chinese zodiac – regarded as the luckiest out of all the twelve zodiac animals.
With the rabbit symbolising elegance and beauty, we are optimistic that it could be a particularly lucky year for the architecture, art and design world. The characteristics of the rabbit include being artistic, quick minded and ingenious, paying close attention to small details, and making sure everything is done in the best possible way. All these features are key things we strive for at Chetwoods in our approach to the design and delivery of our architecture and design work.
An artistic approach to architecture is central to the design philosophy of Chetwoods. Our Chairman, Laurie Chetwood is both an award-winning architect and a highly regarded artist with recognition including a shortlisting for the Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize for architecture, prizes at the Royal Academy of Arts, and gold medals at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show.
Laurie Chetwood is leading the campaign in our profession to apply art, architecture and landscape holistically to create beautiful places and spaces that enhance happiness and wellbeing.
“Ideally, buildings should be designed as pieces of art in their own right; art should not be an attractive afterthought but rather integrated into the overall design from the outset.”
– Laurie Chetwood
Laurie Chetwood’s artwork of our urban plaza for the United Nations Biological Diversity Convention (COP 15)
Laurie Chetwood is also a passionate advocate of the use of hand drawing by architects as a means of exploring and communicating design concepts. “I bring as much art into architecture as I can…. I am starting to see art and drawing coming back into the profession, and I like to think I’ve made a bit of a difference in helping to educate people in drawing.”
The zodiac rabbit’s close attention to detail and ingenuity are also key parts of a successful buildings’ design and construction. Clever and detailed design creates clever buildings that respond to technical and environmental challenges, often adding something positive to a location and to user experience and enjoyment. At Chetwoods we apply cutting-edge research and technologies that help identify and minimise waste in terms of design time, construction processes and materials, and use environmental and user management.
Anny Fan, Chetwoods’ Head of China Business Development and a specialist in the management of architecture and design projects between the UK and China, appreciates how The Chinese Year of the Rabbit could be a prosperous time for creative industries across the world. “Elegant and artistic design with close attention to small details is a way of thinking which is not only embedded within Chetwoods and the wider architecture industry, but also China’s overall approach to all spaces. This is evidenced with the brave and imaginative designs which we produced for metro hubs across China with Jiang & Associates Design (J&A), the visionary experience of the urban plaza we designed for the United Nations Biological Diversity Convention (COP 15) in October 2021, our masterplan for Wuhan International Eco-Logistics Park and our Mars Farm project in collaboration with Creativersal International. Our office in Guangzhou, China is now open and we are looking forward to collaborating with new clients on a range of exciting projects in the New Year.”
Chetwoods’ Mars Farm project in collaboration with Creativersal International
Chetwoods masterplan for Wuhan International Eco-Logistics Park
These are an array of designs we have produced for metro hubs and stations in Chengdu, Xian and Shenzhen, China. The Chengdu metro station build was completed in 2021:
During this Year of the Rabbit one of our Directors’ Reza Esmaeeli will be moving to our Guangzhou office in China to further develop our work. Reza has led the design of a variety of international architectural and interior design projects at Zaha Hadid Architects, Sepanta Design and Chetwoods. His work includes our new generation of metro hubs and stations across China, where detained functionality and elegant beauty are combined to create exceptional and memorable destinations and experiences for those who work in, visit and travel through these pioneering infrastructure hubs.
Tim Ward, Chetwoods CEO and an industrial and logistics specialist will also be overseeing Chetwoods continued work within the growing sector in China as we move forward on a number of projects.
Our Chetwoods China office is located in Guangzhou
We wish all our clients and colleagues at home and overseas health, happiness and prosperity during 2023.
Our Chetwoods China team is led by Laurie Chetwood, Chetwoods’ Chairman, Tim Ward, Chetwoods’ CEO and a specialist in the industrial and logistics sector, Anny Fan, Chetwoods’ Head of China Business Development and Reza Esmaeeli, Director
Contact our China team directly today:
Chetwoods
10 2704 International
Metropolitan Plaza, No. 68
Flower Avenue, Tianhe District,
Guangzhou, China
+86 (0) 20 2333 9020
Anny.Fan@chetwoods.com
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