Far East Facade UK, whose curtain walls adorn landmarks, builds a reputation for quality work

Amid the excitement of South London's regeneration and a new cluster of emerging skyscrapers around the Elephant and Castle district, one 124-meter-tall residential building towers above the rest, dazzling onlookers with its modern and fashionable design.

The building is One The Elephant, and its curtain walls were completed by the Chinese construction company Far East Facade UK.

Opened in 2016, One The Elephant has become a landmark in Elephant and Castle. With its complex design and construction requirements in accordance with the UK's strict sustainable building standards, the project placed a heavy demand on Far East Facade UK.

Hammer Zhu, vice-chairman of Far East Facade UK, says: "We were able to help the building achieve such high quality due to the strength of our design, the great sourcing of our materials and the great manufacturing strength we have across our different factories."

One The Elephant's 262 balconies meant the building presented high risks of wind and water leakage, and its 57 types of floor panels meant that extra care was needed in the construction process. Various decorations and design constraints added more challenges for the company.

But the challenges didn't deter Far East Facade. Instead, Zhu's team worked hard to see the project through to successful completion.

The finished project even achieved a very low U-value, which measures building insulation, of 0.94 - meaning the building absorbs light well and is able to preserve heat, and so is very energy efficient.

Zhu says the key factor behind Far East Facade UK's competitive technology is its international network, which allows it to call upon the best designers, material supplies and factory strength from around the world. The company has subsidiaries in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Macao, Australia, Singapore and Dubai. Its factories are in Canada, the US, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

One The Elephant is Far East Facade UK's second project in the UK. It also provided curtain walls for the refurbishment of 71 Queen Victoria Street, a commercial building in the City of London. The company is now looking for new projects.

In 2015, the company was recognized by the Tou Ying Tracker as one of the 25 Chinese companies with the fastest revenue growth rate in the UK. The tracker is a joint initiative of China Daily and UK accountants Grant Thornton to recognize Chinese companies' growth in the UK.

"We hope to ride on new opportunities within the UK's infrastructure sector development and the UK's ambitions to become the end point on the Belt and Road map," says Zhu.

Zhu's confidence in Far East Facade's future in the UK market is supported by the company's experience of providing curtain walls to major projects such as the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

Far East Global Group's history dates to 1969, when it was a small aluminum works company in Hong Kong. Over the years it expanded rapidly, and by 2010 it was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Two years later, China State Construction International Holdings acquired a controlling stake in the company and helped its international expansion.

In retrospect, Zhu says it was opportunities like the Burj Khalifa that cemented Far East Global Group's international reputation. Initially, it came in second in the bidding behind a German company.

The German company began preliminary work on the Burj Khalifa, but its model did not reach the standards required by the developer.

"This problem became a concern, and the developer turned to us for help. We successfully completed the project, and we delivered the first panel to Dubai on month seven, which is a short amount of time considering that the amount of preparation work to create these materials is extensive," Zhu says.

Zhu's group has also successfully completed other major projects, including the Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas, the Wynn Macau resort and the Shanghai International Finance Center. It is currently building about 30 Apple stores in China.

"We see internationalization as very important, because we are a Hong Kong-listed company, so completing projects in mature markets with mature legal systems and high building standards is a very important part of our strategy," Zhu says.

He adds that the UK market is particularly important for his team, because its factory in Shenzhen follows UK standards and specifications.

The UK's property market has been experiencing an influx of Chinese developers' investment in recent months. Last month, Chinese real estate giant Wanda closed a ￡470 million ($612 million; 526 million euros) deal to buy land in South London's Nine Elms area.

Meanwhile, data from real estate agent CBRE showed ￡2.72 billion of Chinese investment in London commercial property in the first quarter of 2017, a sixfold increase from the same period last year.

"We are exploring opportunities to partner with various Chinese property developers in the UK, as we are able to build strong trust and synergy with Chinese property developers, and together we can strengthen further our footsteps in the UK market," Zhu says.

The UK developers have become more accepting of international construction companies, he adds. "In the past, major property developers and lead contractors had concerns about asking us to bid for projects, but now they invite us to negotiate for many projects, which increases our likelihood of being on a project."

Meanwhile, Zhu says his team is eager to expand into the new areas of modular construction and infrastructure development, after cementing its leading role as a curtain wall specialist.

"The modular construction market provides many great opportunities for us because the UK currently is suffering from a housing shortage, and the government is supporting affordable housing sector growth. Modular construction can play a key role in delivering these affordable housing objectives," he says.

Some Chinese construction companies have already entered the UK's modular construction market. One example is China National Building Materials Group, which struck a ￡2.75 billion deal to build six modular construction unit factories in the UK.

The homes built by the joint venture will reduce construction costs to ￡400 per square meter, significantly less than the UK market average of ￡1,000 per square meter.

"We can achieve more benefits with modular construction by building the units in our mainland China factories, which enjoy economies of scale and lower construction costs," Zhu says.

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(China Daily European Weekly 07/28/2017 page30)