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Originally Posted by jose_kwan
One Island East
18 Westlands Road
Island East
Hong Kong
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'Crown jewel' office project finally begins in Quarry Bay
Leslie Kwoh
28 March 2006
Hong Kong Standard
Leading land developer Swire Properties has begun construction on its HK$2 billion office flagship in Quarry Bay, following a year-long hiatus triggered by high vacancy rates in the office market.
Demolition of the two former buildings, Melbourne Industrial Building and Aik San Factory Building, at the site on Westlands Road was completed 13 months ago but, "because the commercial aspect was not so good, we did not feel the need to rush,'' Swire's head of public affairs, Miranda Szeto, said at a presentation Monday.
While construction is not expected to be completed until 2008, high demand in the area means Quarry Bay office rents have more than doubled over the past year to average HK$31.21 per square foot a month, and are expected to increase by another 30 percent in the next 12 months, according to Knight Frank.
The 70-story glass office complex, which will add 1.5 million square feet of office space to Swire's investment properties portfolio, is currently the only major Grade A office development under way on Hong Kong Island after overall office property completions fell to a 35-year low last year.
Senior project manager Kenneth Ng described One Island East as the crown jewel in Swire's Island East business district, which includes 61 residential blocks and 12 commercial buildings.
It will also be the tallest building in Quarry Bay, at 308 meters, only 27m shorter than Hong Kong's tallest building, Two IFC.
A covered walkway will integrate the complex with neighboring Tai Koo Place.
Ng said he predicted construction would be "exceptionally efficient'' as more than 2,100 glitches in structural planning, such as plumbing obstructions, were identified and resolved in the design stage, with the help of HK$10 million 3-D digital visualization software Swire adopted last February.
According to Ng, previous clashes between design and actual construction were checked manually and randomly by consultants, and only at an advanced stage of construction, thus resulting in a high wastage rate of new and unused fittings and finishes.
Design clashes alone were responsible for about 2,000 cubic meters of construction waste at Three Pacific Place, which Swire completed in 2004, he said.
As such wastage is expected to be completely eliminated in the One Island East project _ the first project in Hong Kong to use the software _ Ng estimated that total construction waste would be reduced by 15-25 percent. He predicted the new "Designing Out Waste'' initiative would bring long-term gains for Swire, especially after accumulating landfills prompted the government to implement waste charges in January ranging from HK$27 to HK$125 a ton for all projects costing HK$1 million or more.
One Island East will also be the first project in Hong Kong to use "concrete crushers,'' multimillion dollar vehicles used during demolition to "bite'' materials into smaller chunks, which can then be more easily divided into groups for recycling.
Only about 1 percent of waste from demolition works for the One Island East project went to landfills, Ng said.
The remaining 99 percent was recycled or reused, including 57,125 tonnes of concrete and bricks, 2,840 tonnes of steel and 740 tonnes of other inert materials _ which would have incurred anywhere from HK$1.6 million to HK$7.6 million under the new waste charges scheme.
Responding to concerns that One Island East would overcrowd the area, where office workers often complain they endure long restaurant lines during lunch hour, Szeto said she was "confident'' the new complex will spark a new flurry of supplementary commercial developments.
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