Hong Kong, 28 November 2011 ————– Hong Kong-based architectural consultancy firm Sepia Design Consultants Limited in collaboration with Horwath HTL, has been awarded a 2011 Merit Award for Urban Design by the American Institute of Architects Hong Kong Chapter for the “Changbai Mountain Tourism Plan.”
The results of the award program were announced during last week’s awards ceremony and exhibition at the Exchange Square Rotunda in Central, Hong Kong.
The annual American Institute of Architects Hong Kong Honor & Awards Program attracted 17 entries in the urban design category this year, four of which received awards of merit. The Sepia / Horwath winning joint entry depicted a holistic tourism master plan for one of the largest tourism destinations in northern China. The Changbaishan Master Plan revolves around an existing transnational UNESCO biosphere that straddles the border of China and North Korea. Spanning an elevation of 600 m to 2,700 m above sea level, the ecologically-significant Changbaishan tourism area consists of 13,000 sq. km. of various microclimates ranging from temperate hardwood forests to alpine tundra.
Commissioned at the provincial government level, the Sepia / Horwath tourism plan incorporated existing and future tourism amenities, infrastructure, transportation networks, administrative zones, protected scientific research zones, and UNESCO-protected biosphere areas into a comprehensive long-range sustainable plan for development of tourism in the area.
The competition jurors described this presentation as “sensitive and applauded the effort to reach a higher plane. Of note, the jury recognized the importance of architects playing many roles in the built world including, as this project illustrates: preserving heritage and designing socially, environmentally and economically sustainable blueprints for tourism and infrastructure growth. The plans show a comprehensive set of analysis and recommendations for urban planning, architectural guidelines, policy framework and beyond.”
AIA Hong Kong Competition Jurors
The winning scheme emphasized the adaptive reuse of decommissioned timber camps and the accompanying network of former logging roads for new tourism infrastructure and reforestation efforts. Sepia Design Managing Director Thomas Schmidt noted, “Many of these previously degraded pockets of land already contain basic services within otherwise pristine forest areas and offer an opportunity for infilling sensitive small-scale developments, in lieu of the common practice of clearing massive swathes of virgin forest for unbridled development.”
He added, “In addition to the environmental and planning issues, large-scale tourism development also has important social and economic dimensions; our kind invitation to collaborate with Horwath HTL and to supplement their studies resulted in a long range tourism plan that merged the strengths of our two firms and resulted in a roadmap which is more holistic in character and practical to implement over the years to come.”
Editor’s Note: Thomas Schmidt, AIA, LEED AP is the founder of Sepia Design Consultants Limited, an award-winning design consultancy specializing in creative and sustainable design solutions for the hospitality industry. Schmidt is also author and illustrator of the award-winning Bumbling Traveller Adventure Series which seeks to promote environmental and cultural awareness through entertaining mysteries and adventures, which was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) through a 2010 Chapter Citation. Horwath HTL (www.horwathhtl.com) is the world’s largest consulting organization specialized in the hospitality industry, with 50 offices in 39 countries. For information contact: Ms. Sherie Tsang at sepiadesign@biznetvigator.com or at +852 2557 3742