29 Jun 2015
Awakening, Intelligence, Integration
Schüco and NUO jointly combine traditional culture with modern life
Editor’s note:
According to the China Tourism Association, by 2025 China is expected to surpass the United States to become the world’s largest hotel market. This prediction has greatly intensified competition amongst local hotels - especially luxury hotels. In order to establish a significant position in the Chinese market, domestic and international luxury brands are rapidly repositioning their hotels to capitalize on evolving market trends.
Dominant Awakening
“Rooted in Latin, the word NUO stands for new and represents the golden promise we are committed to. NUO, a luxury brand imagined to incarnate and celebrate China’s renaissance. This golden promise is a commitment to do things in a brand new way. Made up of “the best of China”, infused with contemporary cues, NUO is a rich blend with a unique flavor. The experience is outstandingly different, never seen or felt before. It is the NUO Way.” http://www.nuohotel.com/
NUO, wholly owned by state tourism giant Beijing Tourism Group (BTG), is the first national brand in the Chinese luxury hotel industry. NUO aims to create high-end, super-five star hotels that serve the lifestyles and attitudes of modern China while honouring the country’s cultural heritage and supporting contemporary art and culture.
“In contrast to other five-star chain hotels, every NUO hotel is unique with its distinctive cultural topic and style,” said Mr. Wang Xin, General Manager of Beijing Yan Xiang Co., Ltd. / Beijing NUO Hotel Management Co., Ltd. “As the flagship hotel for the NUO brand, NUO Hotel Beijing contains the Ming dynasty style as its soul. The lobby will be decorated with blue and white Porcelain and the guest rooms will be adorned with Ming dynasty poetry.”
“The first NUO hotel gathered Ming dynasty furniture experts, historians and art experts at the beginning of the design phase in order to inspire and guide the designers,” said Mr. Wang Xin. “As a result, the hotel shows collective wisdom in its design. We will construct NUO Tang, NUO Song or NUO Qing after NUO Ming in the future.”
Intelligence: The Global Trend
Inspired by nature, a low-carbon profile, and intelligent.
Adhering to its promise of environmental sustainability, NUO carefully followed the gold-level certificate standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system when constructing NUO Hotel Beijing. As a result, the building achieved pre-certification in the early stages of its construction. Strongly supported by leading global suppliers of construction and hardware facilities, the hotel has always followed strict international regulations to fulfil maximum low-carbon intelligence. An energy-saving façade system designed by Schüco reduces air-conditioning and heating inefficiencies.
During the project, Schüco provided NUO with integrated windows, doors, façade solutions, including products such as SU 95 unitised façades, FW 95+ façades, AWS 102 SK smoke and heat ventilation system, AWS 65 inward-opening window system and ADS 65 HD (heavy duty) door system. According to Pan Xueliang, Project Manager of Jangho, Schüco’s standard curtain wall systems were able to meet all of NUO’s exacting demands.
The SU 95 unitised façades adopted a completely customized design, specially made for NUO Hotel Beijing, and they have been tested based on continuous collaboration between fabricators, designers and investors.
Schüco was founded in Germany more than 64 years ago. The Schüco system aluminium alloy profile adopts 6060t66, with its mechanical property 30% stronger than the 6060 profile commonly used domestically. Hollow doubling low-e glass has been adopted to ensure that the sound isolation property of the entire curtain wall system can reach 38db, 3-5db higher than ordinary domestic curtain walls.
“The system hardware items are imported from Germany and every item has passed a property test at a corresponding quantity level,” said Su Haitao, Chief Representative of the NUO project. “For example, handles have passed 20,000 property tests and guides and hinges have passed tests more than 100,000 times.”
The Schüco system has laid a solid foundation for hotels to achieve desired design effect owing to its outstanding quality. However, Schüco is not restricted to product marketing as a world-leading supplier of building façades.
In addition to providing excellent products, Schüco was also involved in many elements throughout the project, from specifications, fabrication, installation, and quality-control, to on-site inspections. The company held numerous meetings and issued countless reports and tests at different stages of the process. In addition, Schüco committed 15 technical engineers from Schüco China to work on this project exclusively.
In the façade construction field, Schüco closely cooperates with various construction parties while adhering to its professional standards and established German practices. For example, it carefully lists all the materials and processes according to drawings and follows the installation steps according to operation guides. As a result, Schüco has become a core construction power.
“At the beginning of our project, Schüco and NUO agreed that curtain walls in a super-luxurious hotel should satisfy the most demanding requirements in terms of comfort, design, security and energy efficiency,” remarked Jiang Xueliang. “Similarly, they should also meet high demands throughout the project management process: simple design, clear fabrication process, convenient installation and efficient cost control. Schüco and its products are amazing.”
Integration, commonly known to the world
“NUO” is unique among high-end hotel brands, integrating the elements of original Chinese charm, an impressive sense of luxury, and special modern sensibilities with a creative and deep commitment to being a green brand,” said Peter Stockbruegger, Technical Director of Schüco China. “While creating an exquisite Chinese cultural experience, the hotel strives to show a high-end lifestyle from its use of leading international products.
“That’s the reason NUO chose Schüco.”
Since entering China in 1999, Schüco has continuously collaborated with local partners, architects, developers and investors to develop sustainable building façades, with the successful implementation of system doors, windows and façades in multiple projects in Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Qinhuangdao and Nanjing. Through its extensive experience in China, Schüco has fully learned and completely absorbed the strong and unique charms of Chinese culture.
“Relying on our deep experience and industry leading position, we have earned a leading reputation and built a supreme quality assurance system amongst luxury hotels,” continued Stockbruegger. “Additionally, in comparison with other façades, Schüco’s products display unique quality and environment-friendly performance in terms of materials and design complexity.”
“Schüco has spared no effort to offer best products and services to NUO Hotel Beijing in order to guarantee that our project is carried out as smoothly as possible,” said Guenter Strauss, Executive Director of Schüco Greater China. “I’m very pleased to find that the hotel’s original philosophy has been fully implemented and comprehensively completed. I believe that the Beijing project stands as a major milestone for Schüco China and the ‘NUO’ brand together, as well as a starting point for future successes. Together, both parties have realized great benefits that will be immediately applicable to future development projects as a result.”
“Schüco never regards a building façade as an ordinary component,” stated Dr. Joerg Westphal, Senior Vice President of Schüco International KG. “On the contrary, it can add comfort and safety while guaranteeing internal and external climates for the hotel. Building façades resemble canvases for displaying beautiful architectural design. This is the value brought by the Schüco façade system to our projects. NUO stands for an unprecedented success case for Schüco in China, assisting us in broadening and deepening our brand image in the Chinese market and among customers.”
“NUO Hotel Beijing is strategically located in Beijing’s Lido Business area,” said Qian Bin, Vice General Manager of the project.” In this entire area, building height is restricted to less than 80 meters. However, with special approval from Beijing’s Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, this project can be constructed up to 123 meters in heighth. Upon its completion, the building will become a landmark in the Lido Changyang District, with a unique commitment to the creation and maintenance of a green and healthy lifestyle.”
“As the top national brand in the Chinese luxury hotel industry, the internationalized ‘NUO’ establishes the era of “Chinese style” in the hotel industry as a national cultural brand,” said Mr. Andreas Engelhardt, Managing Partner and CEO of Schüco International KG. “Schüco always insists on bringing original technology and creative, high quality building façades to its global customers. For the NUO project, we share the common goals and values of pursuing exquisite quality and incorporating traditional culture into our work. Going forward, we hope that this philosophy and style can be spread to every corner of the world through the addition of more NUO hotels.”
NUO has been built on strong beliefs which comprise its foundation.
With tradition mixing with a modern aesthetic, luxury exists together with conciseness and technology melds seamlessly with green. The result is a common pleasure shared by both oriental and western guests.
With flowers and trees, and water and stones bringing a natural charm, the project artistically integrates ancient tradition with innovation while incorporating the culture of the new millennium and embracing urban prosperity.