HB Design was founded by Hans Brouwer in Hong Kong in 1995 following a distinguished career working for the internationally renowned firm of Sir Norman Foster and Partners. In the ensuing 20 years the practice has grown to have offices in Singapore, Bangkok and Phuket and now employs more than 50 full time staff. The firm has a diverse and award winning portfolio that spans high rise residential, commercial and mixed use projects with many projects exceeding 2 million square feet built up area.
FEATUREDPROJECTS
HB DESIGN’S PROJECT EXPERTISE SPANS A WIDE VARIETY OF DIVERSE TYPOLOGIES.
THE PROCESS
What defines an architectural practice: the look of its work or its approach to the work and to their clients?
HB Design believes this end product is always the result of a process of engagement – with the client, the site and with the drivers which emerge from the brief. This process is a truly creative one because the end is not known at the beginning. It only gradually emerges as a result of constant exploration of how innovative design can still tick all the performance criteria boxes.
We believe it is crucial to engage the client in this problem-solving journey. In that way the client is brought into the design process, taking ownership of design decisions, understanding why they have been made and how they work to achieve an outstanding result.
BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING ( BIM )
In 2012, Raimonland, a client with which HB Design had worked with for many years, mandated that both the Architect and Engineer document their project, “The Lofts Ekkamai” using Autodesk Revit. HB Design had extensive experience using the Revit software having documented several projects previously undertaking a full BIM approach (Building information Modelling). “It is a great opportunity to work in an environment where all disciplines use the same package” Jan Appelman, managing Director of HB Design (Thailand) says. “This is of great benefit to the client as we can perform clash detections, and the level of coordination between drawings is better than it would be in a traditional CAD environment” he says.
Working in close collaboration with consulting engineers, Meinhardt, HB Design started using the full capabilities of Revit for both Structural and MEP engineering– doing both design in the model as well as generating documentation from the Revit model. It is no exaggeration to say that the BIM revolution is the biggest advance in architectural design technology since the adoption of CAD in the 80’s
According to Jan, the next step is to apply this to projects where maintenance has a significant role to play during day to day operations – such as hotels or office buildings. “Ideally we would like the contractor to issue an as-built model that includes all disciplines as part of the deliverables. This would be the ideal starting point for building owners and operators.”
KEYPEOPLE
HANS BROUWER
DIRECTOR
HB Design
DENNIS STANFILL
Director
HB Design
JAN APPELMAN
DIRECTOR
HB Design
CHAITANYA THAKUR
DESIGN DIRECTOR
HB Design
JUNE SUCHERA
DESIGN DIRECTOR
HB Design
CHIARA BERGAMINI
PROJECT DIRECTOR
HB Design
PINN SINANUWONG
ASSOCIATE
HB Design