Kunming is known for year-round spring-like weather  and unmatched natural scenery in China. The famed Dian  Lake area is especially sought after property for its tourism  and commercial value. The location of Kunming’s 7th water treatment plant is no exception. This project is an effort to best cultivate this huge real estate potential while keep-  ing the treatment plant in operation. Our design solution  provides a bold and ingenious idea for this objective. The  31-acre site is triangular with a small river floating by north  east and the beautiful Dian lake lies in its south and west.

Our team helped to develop a program for a  hotel, corporate office, a conference center, ser-  vice apartments, retail, and spaces for leisure. All  these facilities are to be initially managed by the  state-owned company that operates the plant.  After comparing design options, we chose the  most daring one. It is an elevated L shaped structure that bridges over the water plant. An independent deck of looped walkway is built at 10  meters above ground, in addition to connecting  pedestrians among new facilities, this deck will  take visitors and residents alike to look over the  plant (get an education about water quality and  environment), and venture out to the bar streets  by the river for some fun. Circulations below this  deck is mostly for plant operation that is kept  separate from access points.

Hotels, retail, and conferences are located in the three  points of the L. For seismic protection, the monumental L is made of the aforementioned three buildings  and connected with lightweight bridges that work as  sky-links essentially. Several green courtyards, sky gar-  dens and open atria are also included in the L to break  down the solid mass. It is an elegant structure on the  lake shore, like a bird ready to take off. It provides a  poetic design illustration for an economic model to utilize unused real estate in the city.

Dream Hotels acquired a 26-acre property along the wooded shores of the 1,000-acre White Lake at Chapin Estates in Bethel, New York. WQB designed a retail center which included a Peck’s Supermarket, a US Post Office, the Catskill Brewery, a convenience store, a second floor coworking space and a separate building with a microbrewery with bar and restaurant.

Former British Consulate
New English Town, Tianjin

 As part of the streetscape redevelopment effort for New Bond Street/ New Englishtown in Tianjin, Crown Acquisitions arranged for Ralph Lauren to develop a Flagship Store at the Landmarked, formerly the British Consulate Building, at the heart of the district. The building is 38,000sf on 3 floors and will be fully restored to its former grandeur while accommodating a new retail strategy for Ralph Lauren. The building terraces will provide access to the central plaza of the district. WQB Architecture / Citiarc arranged for Crown to take possession of the building and will provide architectural services for the restoration of the landmark building.

Joy City Xidan
Beijing, PRC

Interactive Development Associates LLC and their affiliate, Oriental Property Consultants, restructured and marketed the development of a 2.5 million square foot project in Xidan, the “Times Square,” of Beijing. The project contains a major destination shopping mall, with full service food court combining Chinese traditional and western-influenced fare.

China Post Provincial Stores
Throughout the PRC

China Post, the postal service of the PRC, has over 100,000 outlets throughout China, most of which are in rural areas. Each post office is also an outlet for the China Postal Saving Bank, and in rural areas China Post is the purveyor or logistic provider for seed, fertilizer and chemicals to the farmers in the region. Because most of the farmers have access to few services, the local management often stocks the store with convenience items used by the local population on a day-to-day basis. China Horizon and China Post have entered into partnership to redevelop 10,000 of the stores as full service convenience stores and have partnered with Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, Coca Cola, Motorola, China Mobile, Lenovo and others to provide the following inventory and services:

▪ OTC health & beauty products
▪ Nonperishable foods and sundries
▪ Household products
▪ Seasonal specialties
▪ Cell phones and accessories
▪ Computers and internet services
▪ Banking and bill paying
▪ Agricultural products and product exhibitions.

102 Madison Avenue
New York, New York

The development of the neighborhoods around Madison Square Park has created a variety of new commercial development opportunities from 23rd Street to 34 Street, one of which is the development of a new furniture district along Madison Avenue and included office rents due to the success of the Flatiron District. WQB Architecture PLLC is assisting A Ruth & Sons, owner of 102 Madison Avenue (for over 40 years) in redeveloping the property. The work consists of a new retail storefront, new office entrance and a new landscaped tenant roof deck.

Children’s Place
1164 Third Avenue
New York, New York

Initially, the structure at 1164 Third Avenue was a specialty boutique movie theatre adjacent to a major intersection with good subway access and foot traffic servicing three major hospitals. This was the very beginning of the “malling” of Third Avenue thus a main challenge was to find a “national/credit” tenant who could operate at two levels. IDA Associates arranged for the lease with Children’s Place and WQB Architecture provided a design featuring a two story atrium, ADA and stroller compliant mezzanine, and a basic floor layout that has been a major retail success.

Jacadi Store
New York, New York

Jacadi is one of France’s premier children’s wear boutiques.

Jacadi’s first store on Madison Avenue in Carnegie Hill was the model for their stores throughout the United States. WQB Architecture worked with their marketing department in Paris to develop the merchandising and design strategy for both freestanding mall and department stores. The Carnegie Hill location required that the facade design be approved by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Petit Bateau
New York, New York

Petit Bateau is the oldest luxury children’s wear brand in France. WQB Architecture was retained by Petit Bateau to build their flagship image on Madison Avenue. Working closely with Petit Bateau management, WQB developed a fantasy environment where wealthy mothers and grandmas felt comfortable buying very expensive clothes for their “little darlings”. 8 stores were built in the United States.