Current Projects

Project Description:

Harmony Hotel and Villas
Suzhou, China

The project, a boutique hotel and villas focused on a central spa and wellness center, will create a place of retreat and relaxation on Yang Cheng Lake near Suzhou, China. This project is in the early stages of design.

Dalian Agora
Dalian, China

The Agora will be a mixed-use retail, commercial and residential project. The project creates new courtyard-oriented mid-rise buildings and a landmark tower. The design strives to show sensitivity to the existing urban fabric by retaining a historic school building. This project is currently in progress.

Bhutan Elder Sangha Sanctuary
Limukha Punakha Bhutan

A small village designed to allow senior monks to çage-in-placeç. While fully respecting the governmentªs mandated use of traditional Bhutanese architectural language, BESS will provide the first such housing in Bhutan to be fully accessible to those with physical disabilities. The buildings are intended to serve as a model across Bhutan and were designed to be easily replicable (and adaptable) using only the building methods typically employed by the families and community groups that customarily band together when new buildings are needed. l images will soon be posted.

Qingdao Agora
Qingdao, China

In central Qingdao and overlooking the Yellow Sea, the Agora is a 2.3 million sq ft development consisting of a 4-story, 300,000 sq. ft. retail podium; a 30-story, 96-unit condominium tower; and a 51-story, 936,000 sq. ft. class-A office tower, the tallest in Shandong Province.

The exterior form of the office building recalls traditional Chinese "scholar rocks," specifically rock shapes that evoke islands off the coast of Shandong Province, and therefore have significance to the local population.

Existing and anticipated pedestrian traffic patterns provided the framework for siting the buildings and shaping public spaces.

The office tower's varied window to core depths will accommodate a wide variety of tenant uses.

The retail portion of the development celebrates the essential role that food plays in Chinese culture, with restaurants of different scales and ambiances, as well as bakeries, spice markets, delis, cafes, and tea houses.

A tiered garden in an amphitheater arrangement faces a reflecting pool which can host community events such as concerts, performances, and outdoor film screenings.

The Agora has been recognized for "Outstanding Contribution to the Economy in Housing Development". Awarded by the CPC Qingdao Shinan District People's Government, the commendation is for exemplary contributions to the development of housing.

Beresford Apartment
New York, NY

An apartment in Manhattan's Upper West Side was renovated with custom furnishings by Tsao & McKown, in collaboration with architect Gary Morgenroth.

Farmhouse
Rhinebeck, NY

Calvin Tsao and Zack McKown renovated a former tenant farmer's cottage in upstate NY, extended it with a screened porch, and furnished it to serve as their weekend retreat.

Lumiere
Taipei, Taiwan

Our first project for the Hong Kong based developer Phoenix Property Investors was this recently completed adaptive re-use of an apartment building in Taipei.

Scope included architecture and interior design.

William Beaver House
New York, NY

Glazed yellow bricks strike a bold impression on the skyline and send a cascade of light down the canyons of lower Manhattan, transitioning to a pedestrian-scaled open base.

For developer Andre Balazs, a 47-story condominium located one block below Wall Street in lower Manhattan.

The project deliberately conflates and blurs the realms of housing and hospitality, domesticity and public life, privacy and sociability.The residential program fills the tower above, which is set back from the base to form a housing core. That core is brought down to and formally interlocks with the more public, extroverted base. At once,the residential and public components are conjoined and revealed.At the base the sidewalks are widened, and a small piazza is created at the corner by carving out portions of the building, providing much needed public space. The tower's perceived mass is reduced by breaking the corner, separating the two street facades. Within the compact apartments, space is maximized, in part, by joining sleeping and bathing areas.

There are 316 apartments and a range of shared amenities including a 60-foot indoor lap pool, squash and basketball courts, a screening room, gymnasium, penthouse events space and terrace, and a public restaurant on the street level.

Scope included architecture and interior design.

Project Details:

Year: 9999