K.B. Albert Chan
Mr. Albert K. B. CHAN
Albert has a long-term passion in urban regeneration, in the development and design of sustainable urban communities, as well as in placemaking. He is the Director of Planning and Development at Shui On Land (SOL) and Chief Sustainability Officer of the Group. From 1997 onwards, he led the masterplanning and design of SOL “Tiandi” communities, which has received multiple international and national awards from ULI, MIPIM, AIA, CTBUH, World Bank, CRED and other organizations. From 1998 to 2001, he led the design effort for the Shanghai Xintiandi development, which became the first development in China to receive the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Award for Excellence. Other multiple awarded developments include Foshan Lingnan Tiandi, Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC), Rui Hong Xin Cheng, Hongqiao Tiandi, Wuhan Tiandi, Xintiandi Plaza renovation, Panlong Tiandi and Hong Shou Fang .
Mr. Chan leads the Sustainable Development Department of the Company and is responsible for the 5C sustainability objectives and initiatives of the Group. The company is the first in Mainland China to obtain SBTI approved 2030 carbon reduction targets. All large SOL communities received LEED neighborhood Gold level certifications as well as various building level China Green Star and international certifications. Shanghai Xintiandi Community received world’s first WELL Community certification in 2019. In 2014, he was a recipient of the Shanghai Green Building Council’s “Special Individual Contribution Award”.
Albert has been a Global Trustee of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and chaired the ULI Mainland China Council from 2017-2019. He is a member of the Board of Directors of American Institute of Architects (AIA) Shanghai/Beijing Chapter, is a Chartered member of Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and member of RIBA China100.Albert is appointed as a member of international panel of Experts of Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), effective 2023-25. Albert has also served as Adviser of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Guangzhou Campus Development Board and participated as expert member in the ULI Advisory Services Program.
As development and design juror, Albert Chaired the ULI Global Award for Excellence jury in 2023, Chairs the ULI Asia Pacific Awards for Excellence jury in 2024, and co-chairs the jury for the China Real Estate Design Competition since 2020. He has been a juror for AIA, CTBUH and other award programs.
Prior to joining Shui On, Mr. Chan worked at the New York City Department of Design and Construction and at Cooper, Robertson + Partners.
Albert holds a B.Arch from the University of Minnesota, a M.Arch from the University of California, Berkeley, a M.S in Urban Design from Columbia University, and an MBA from New York University. He received his New York State Architectural License in 1990.
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A Decade’s Hall | CREDAWARD 10th Anniversary Message
10 years is a long time in modern real estate development in China, but it is a very short time in the evolution of architecture, in China or the world.
The purpose of elevating the quality of real estate related architecture and design, in China and even the world, is long term, important, and relevant, despite up and downs of real estate markets.
I would argue in weaker markets, quality and innovation becomes even more important, as competition becomes more acute. This situation would give impetus to higher and higher quality design in our field.
As China’s premier real estate design award, and marching forward to becoming global, CRED’s role is more significant today than ever.
To continue to encourage good design in many forms and building types, give fair recognition to those that have work hard and succeeded, seems even more precious today.
I congratulate CRED Award’s 10th Anniversary, and my best wishes for CRED to further increase its role in elevating the level of our design in the next decade
A Message for CREDAWARD
It is expected that China Real Estate & Design Award (abbr. CREDAWARD) can display outstanding real estate design works with commercial value, community value and architectural art value.
Interpretation of "Good Design in Real Estate"
Every development has its own story, but from a developmental perspective, these projects revolve around one concept – creating sustainable urban lifestyles. This concept applies to commercial real estate, residential properties, and other community amenities. And for every successful real estate project, creativity is always more important than construction.
Interpretation of "Real Estate Architect"
Real estate architects are architects too. However, they serve society and businesses. Therefore, they must also consider reflecting the value of land.
Book Publishing Message of《BEST WORKS OF CREDAWARD 2014-2019》
—— 5TH Anniversary of CREDAWARD
I would like to express my congratulations to the winners again! This book intensively displays the most outstanding works in the field of real estate design in China, which conveys an important fact: A good design promotes a successful business, while a good idea makes both of them complement each other. Looking around the city where we live, we will find that the majority of the designs originate from real estate development projects. Therefore, it is key to create a good real estate design to make the environment friendly and sustainable. That’s why I take the chance to congratulate the publication of this book which will bring us a valuable experience!
The 8th Awards Album - Future Trends in Real Estate Design
The world of design for real estate in China has begun to change, and this would be a structural change. The abnormal world that we have experienced in the last 30 years will not repeat itself. In important ways, we are moving into a more normal world of design for real estate, one in which many other countries in the world have long experienced.
This more normal world of design would highlight several aspects. One, design quality would become much more important. Two, intense competition would force our professionals to differentiate ourselves in order to survive and grow. Third, the pool of designers would shrink to include those that are truly passionate about design, and determine to produce good design for the long term. Fourth, it is possible that new brilliant Chinese designers would emerge out of this intense competition.
All this may be good for the long term health of the design for real estate in China, although it would inflict pain to the profession in the shorter term. The level of quality of real estate design in China would set to increase at a quicker pace, although quantity may well decrease.
Let all of us prepare ourselves for this new world of design for real estate in China.