China project earns excellence award for architects

Otago architects Damien (left) and Fred van Brandenburg, pictured with New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association president Frank Xu, were presented with a special category excellence award last week at a gala dinner staged by the New Zealand International Building Expo and Summit, in Auckland.

The award recognised Architecture van Brandenburg’s Marisfrolg campus project (below) in Shenzhen, China, which will be officially opened in September.

Marisfrolg is a high-end fashion house and the interior of the campus building includes an art gallery, two museums, a hotel, an events centre, boutique stores, design studios and a catwalk.

At 190,000sq m, eight times the footprint of Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium, the campus building is the largest-scale commission received by a New Zealand architectural firm.

The design and build have taken 14 years to this point.

More than 850 people attended the NZIBES awards dinner, hosted by the New Zealand Chinese Building Industry Association. Fred and Damien van Brandenburg and Damien’s wife, Ash, will attend a series of China Fashion Week functions in the Marisfrolg campus next month. 

By Steve Davie