Following on from the success of the Kengo Kuma designed Opposite House in Beijing and Upper House in Hong Kong, Swire Hotels has recently unveiled its third House located in the centre of Chengdu, China. Designed by Make Architects, I had the pleasure of accompanying the team from their London base to photograph the project in early July. The balance between old and new has been carefully considered and Make have done an incredible job overall.

Comprising of two L shape towers which sit adjacent to a restored Qing dynasty heritage building, the experience of entering is though a considered sequence of courtyard spaces. Subtle references to the styles and architecture of the Sichuan region are incorporated in a contemporary manner. The larger of the two towers contains the hotel rooms while the smaller contains serviced apartments. Many thanks to Swire Hotels for a welcoming and enjoyable time. I can heartily recommend a stay there if visiting!

Has been a fantastic experience to shoot the cover and a 10 page feature of the almost-completed 5 Broadgate by Make Architects, for the spring edition of New London Quarterly. The cover shot was based on an idea of Ken Shuttleworth to show 5 Broadgate in the context of the Square Mile, and in particular its proximity to the cluster of nearby tall buildings which includes The Gherkin and 122 Leadenhall Street.

Google Earth includes comprehensive 3D building information for London and proved to be an invaluable tool to research potential viewpoints for the contextual shot. Fortunately we were able to arrange access to Broadgate Tower, which is also part of Broadgate Estate. Surprisingly, many of the other London landmarks are visible on the cover shot if looking closely enough, including St. Paul’s, Tower Bridge, The Shard (partly obscured), and London Eye.

5 Broadgate is due to reach practical completion around May 2015 with the internal fit-out to follow (UBS is the main tenant).

The new year marks an exciting point in time, with the launch of a new website as well as having recently relocated to sunny Perth. The climate here would appear to be an architectural photographer’s dream – year round good weather, little rain, beautiful sunsets and skies, bearable weather at dawn and dusk (though less so in the middle of the day).

WA has many terrific architects producing works of architecture; obviously I would love to be able to capture as much of this as possible… Geoffrey London’s ‘A Short History of Perth Architecture‘, while slightly dated, is proving a good start for 19th/20th century architecture.

A lot of building work has also been happening in the last few years, no doubt helped by Perth’s current prosperity. A cursory look around inner Perth reveals many new and interesting buildings: Hassell’s One40William, Lyons’ Central Institute of TAFE, CODA’s Foundation Housing, and Kerry Hill’s State Theatre Centre of WA to name a few.