Rich limestone facades and five levels of luxury living make this the most expensive community in the city.

Set within a famous mountain preserve, this community is in a prime location and needed an architectural design to support the high prices required for it to be successful for the developer.

To maintain the natural landscape, all traffic is moved below ground so pedestrians can enjoy the site and maximize the landscape opportunities.  The vehicle levels are linked to the ground level living through beautiful entry buildings which are rich in detail and compliment the villa architecture. It was important to make the entry experience special since the entry path started below ground.

All villa floor plans include five levels of luxury living.  Three above ground and two below.  Each story is designed with a specific purpose from the entertainment in the basement levels to the master suite on a floor of its own.  The success of the community and its marketability depended on the quality of the design. To achieve the high pricing required, the lifestyle of the villas is designed to meet the needs of the high-end buyers and also satisfy the local buyer’s tastes and living requirements.

The exterior design was also important to achieving the price goals.  A more detailed and classic design is proven to be more successful in this market and we chose two exterior design themes for each plan. First a new interpretation of the Summer Palace style, all crafted in imported limestone and in two colors per scheme. Second, a new interpretation of the Shanghai Bund style, rich in classic detailing.  In both themes, local design details blended into the styles to connect to the cities culture.

There are two entry building locations on the site. The first serves the luxury villas only and draws its detailing from the Shanghai Bund architecture to compliment the nearby villas.  The second location serves the both the villas and the apartment section of the site which is more contemporary in character. These buildings are more playful and modern.

Once completed, the project was a great success for the developer.  To sell out all inventory of such expensive villas in a few weeks was a wonderful accomplishment for the team.