Youssef Akila, head of  Masterise Homes Design (sitting, left) and Senior Partner Toby Blunt of Foster+Partners at the signing ceremony yesterday in HCM City. VNSphoto.

HCM CITY --- Graham Stuart, the British Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, witnessed a signing ceremony yesterday of strategic agreements between Masterise Homes with Foster+ Partners and Quimera Energy Efficiency (QEE) to develop The Global City, a new downtown project in HCM City.

Under the agreements, the UK-based Foster+ Partners will act as architectural advisors of The Global City, providing innovative and sustainable design solutions for the township.

Meanwhile QEE, a London-based smart building high-tech engineering company will design, install, commission and maintain state-of-the-art energy-efficient systems with minimal rates of energy consumption to reduce both cost and carbon footprint.

The joint-effort of two renowned British design and energy companies is expected to bring world-class excellence and sustainability to The Global City, realising the ambition of becoming the second downtown of Saigon.

“Envisioning The Global City to be South East Asia’s most iconic township, Masterise Homes is committed to bringing the best of the world to our township, including luxury contemporary designs, advanced technology and sustainable solutions,” Youssef Akila, Masterise Homes Head of Design, said at the signing ceremony.

“This is the first township in the country to engage Foster+Partners and QEE. Both are at the forefront of sustainability practice and provide the most innovative solutions to create a sustainable urban development that offers long-term value for residents’ well-being, their home, the township and the environment.”

11 per cent of the project consists of green spaces of many different sizes, which is equivalent to 13 ha of trees, from small parks to deep foreshore parks with well-connected pedestrian and cycle paths.

Buildings are arranged and designed to limit the sun exposure and solar radiation (by 30-40 per cent reduction on average) while allowing good ventilation to reduce air conditioning usage for each household and the township as a whole.

Work on The Global City, Covering a total of 117.4 ha of land in An Phu ward, Thu Duc City, started last year and is set to be completed in the next 48 months.

Masterise Homes, a member of Masterise Group, is a pioneer in bringing world-class excellence to the development, operations and management of luxury real estate products and services in the Vietnamese market and beyond.---VNS