Bringing Japanese Quality to Asia’s Office Buildings
～Beijing, Zhaotai International Center～

　A client who is a major local developer and owns real estate in various parts of China requested Nikken Sekkei to develop a proposal on increasing the value of a tenant building designed by a local design firm that is under construction in Beijing.
　The client specifically requested an improvement plan for the entire project to raise the quality of the building and for concrete measures to attract foreign companies, especially Japanese businesses. The company had high expectations that Nikken Sekkei, which has designed numerous office buildings not only in Japan but China as well, would bring its knowledge into play.
　However, the building was already under construction, and the building frame was almost complete when we started. As we reviewed the project under extremely limited conditions and time, we developed the proposal by focusing on the infill part of the building in terms of infrastructure, where there was still realistically room for us to work, and usage and support for tenant occupancy from a more human perspective.

　Beginning with a review of the drawings from an architectural planning perspective, we identified problems in the plans and discussed ideas for improvement. For example, with the aim of raising the value of the building as a whole, we proposed improving flow lines between tenant employees and visitors which crossed at the first floor entrance, as well as transforming areas that were difficult to rent out into shared spaces, such as conference rooms, by reviewing standard floor plans that had become inefficient due to priority placed on securing floor space. Next, we introduced case studies on high-grade buildings in Japan, Europe and the U.S. and advanced approaches and trends, and specified checkpoints that Japanese companies value when selecting tenant offices, such as the different facilities available and the existence of BCP measures. After comparing the specifications and functions of this building with high-grade buildings in Japan, we offered a menu of options to increase the value of the building from which the developers could choose according to their costs and needs. The client was satisfied once we explained that while Chinese companies prefer glamorous and luxurious entrance spaces, this point is not as important for the local subsidiaries of Japanese companies.
　We also mentioned methods for attracting clients. Considering the fact that tenant offices in China are not equipped with standard interiors like those in Japan and foreign companies unfamiliar with the land must make their own arrangements for interior work are hurdles that companies must skirt when moving into a building, we proposed support services for tenants and created mock-ups that would allow them to select standard interiors as an option when moving in.

　Among the various proposals we submitted, we managed to develop a plan that could be implemented in the months leading up to the completion of the building that would increase rents and attract tenants.

• A mock-up of the office space based on Nikken Sekkei’s standard specifications has been installed and is being used to attract tenants. ・On a standard floor, rooms on the core side of the building facing away from the windows were excluded from the tenant area. However, after verifying case studies on the depth of rooms from the window surface, the space allocated for tenants was modified to incorporate these rooms into office space as much as possible, which increased the area available for leasing.
• Shower rooms on each floor, which did not meet the needs of Japanese and other foreign companies, were eliminated, and shared hot water supply rooms and restrooms have been enhanced.
• In tenant areas with large top lights, shades that were difficult to install after construction were installed as part of the main construction of the building.

　In addition, changes to the reception desk and security gates will continue to be considered as part of renovation work after construction is completed due to the reorganization of the traffic flow lines on the first floor.

Although there has been no shift in the importance of overseas bases, which has increased significantly in today’s global economy, there has been a drastic reduction in the flow of people due to COVID-19, and buildings are being reorganized in terms of scale and quantity. As remote working styles have taken root in different countries and workstyle reforms are moving ahead, similarly, we expect that overseas offices will come under pressure to drastically review their operation methods and adapting to these changes will be critical to the competitive edge of tenant buildings. Nikken Sekkei offers new solutions that meet the needs of tenants, as well as business owners. There have been remarkable improvements in standards of living in Asia and China in particular, and structures of the past, where tenants could be attracted by constructing fancy buildings, are breaking down. In addition, developers do not have experience in long-term ownership of buildings and lack know-how in terms of how to manage them after development. In this environment, we feel that the expertise of Japanese developers and designers, which is based on their many years of experience in developing and managing office buildings, will be increasingly in demand in the future.