The buildings that make their neighbourhood

The smart people in property right now know that building the building isn’t enough, and that the best structures are engines of street life and commerce. This is the guiding principle of monocle’s annual Property Survey this year.

That’s why we are kicking off with 10 extraordinary developments from around the world that have uplifted, inspired or energised their neighbourhoods. The key metric for us is that these new landmarks and sought-after addresses, many of which were completed in the past six months, are entwined with the life of the city around them, whether reinventing a run-down quarter or simply bringing a fresh shape to a historic part of town. Our cities need new monuments to progress, whether that’s in terms of building cleaner or working smarter. But savvy developers and architects know that to succeed they need to bring the city and its people along for the ride. — L

1.
MAKING A CITY MORE CONFIDENT
Yarrila Place
Coffs Harbour

Like many smaller, windswept communities on the east coast of Australia, Coffs Harbour has long had humble notions of itself. “That’s what we wanted to challenge with Yarrila Place,” says Matthew Blair, principal at architecture studio bvn and lead architect for the cultural complex, home to a museum, library and council services. Blair, who grew up in the town, remembers the project being discussed and tabled over the 1980s and 1990s but held up by political lethargy and a lack of funding. “We worked under a key set of principles; chief among them was, ‘We are more’,” says Blair. “There is a sense in Coffs Harbour that culture, art, museums are not for us, because we’re not Sydney. We wanted to shift that.”

Yarrila Place has a forest-green-glazed ceramic façade and, at the heart of the building, an open-air atrium with benches shielded from the sun and rain. Its structure mimics the topography of the verdant hinterland and the coast. “These idyllic little towns had forgotten how great they are,” says Blair. “They lost their spirit of optimism. And this project was a way to show – or rather, reveal – that again.”

2.
THE BUILDING FOR ALL
Aquatic and Community Centre
New Westminster

New Westminster, a city near Canada’s sweeping Pacific coastline, is making a splash thanks to a new civic building, a public swimming pool. “There was a need for a home for the community,” says architect Paul Fast, a principal at studio hcma Architecture & Design, which drew up the new complex. “We wanted to bring the facility to life as a place for people to gather socially.”

Taking its name (pronounced, loosely, “tomas-out”) from a First Nations language and referring to the homes of sea otters, the swim and recreation centre replaces the Canada Games Pool, which hosted swimming competitions during the Commonwealth Games in 1973. “It was beloved by many,” says architect Ali Kenyon, principal at hcma, so the design had to be something that residents felt invested in.

Rendered in wood sourced from around British Columbia, the centre has a large, light-filled central lobby, with a glass-fronted entryway that’s retractable in the warmer weather and opens up the airy interior to the verdant public plaza outside. “It’s both a park and a building; they’re unified,” says Kenyon.

Q&A: Nicolas Kozubek
Director, Mipim

Mipim, the world’s biggest property fair, takes place in Cannes in March. Monocle Radio will be broadcasting from the Palais des Festivals. Ahead of the show, we meet Mipim director Nicolas Kozubek.

How healthy is the global property market right now?
The industry is expecting a few fresh starts this year. Interest rates are heading in a better direction.

Many companies now require their staff to be back in the office five days a week. How will this shift the property market?
We need people back at the office. If investors feel like offices are more attractive than they have been, it will move the needle in the right direction across the value chain.

Where are the bright spots for the market globally?
Madrid is well-positioned in European property markets with some strong developments. London and Paris are still important. And there is much to understand about how Saudi Arabia is addressing huge urban development needs.

This is your fourth year helming Mipim. Has what the buyer wants changed in that time?
There’s more reflection on the multipurpose needs of a building and how that can connect with the wider community. If property professionals don’t understand this now, they’re going in the wrong direction.
mipim.com

3.
BOOSTING THE CBD’S FORTUNES
The Henderson
Hong Kong

The undulating façade of The Henderson evokes an orchid, Hong Kong’s official floret and a fitting motif for a building that’s helping the city’s central business district to blossom again. For years, Hong Kong has struggled with high vacancy rates in its top-tier office spaces. Yet about 60 per cent of The Henderson was leased ahead of opening, with four floors taken by auction house Christie’s for its new Asia-Pacific base. Designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, the site comprises commercial offices and a landscaped garden.

“We wanted to push the boundaries of design and construction technology,” says Kevin Ng, senior deputy general manager at Henderson Land Development Co. To that end, office windows can be opened to let in humidity-controlled air from outside and the 22nd-floor sky garden has lush foliage, a jogging track and space for yoga classes with a city view. The tower works because it is not an isolated business; instead it is woven into the fabric of the city. At its base is a footbridge connecting to underground trains and nearby parks.

Country pursuits
Sovereign-wealth funds

It has been a slow return to acquisitive form for sovereign-wealth funds since the coronavirus pandemic. But in 2024 their real-estate transactions totalled an estimated $28.7bn (€27.6bn), according to the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (swfi). The organisation tracks data of these publicly owned funds, which pour capital into the property market. “For the past 20 years, sovereign-wealth funds have been major buyers and builders,” says Michael Maduell, president of swfi.

He cautions that many of these reserves are pointedly opaque about what they own and where they put their money – but there are clear strategies. “Before the artificial-intelligence boom, it was all about logistics,” adds Maduell. “Sovereign-wealth funds were buying up distribution centres. Now the big theme is data centres to meet the need for processing and computing.”

But that’s not to diminish the importance of these funds in building new homes. “We’re seeing growth in multi-family apartments in urban areas.” The Government Pension Fund of Norway is the world’s largest sovereign-wealth fund. As of 2024 it holds more than $31bn (€29.8bn) in global real-estate assets, from stakes in Czech logistics hubs to office blocks in Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz. By assets held, the world’s top-five funds are in Norway, China, Kuwait and the uae. According to recent swfi estimates, they collectively allocate some $156.9bn (€151.2bn) to property across the globe.

4.
TURNING THE TIDE
Sollys
Lyon

“We created a new city in the heart of the old city,” says Laetitia Alfonsi, operations director at French developer Bouygues Immobilier and lead for the recently completed Sollys project in Lyon. Rather than expanding into greenfield land, this complex – residences and offices, as well as retail and health facilities – was constructed on a prime plot in La Confluence, a former industrial wasteland at the southernmost tip of the Presqu’île peninsula, where the Rhône and Saône rivers converge.

Sollys is the latest chapter in a wave of redevelopment that began more than a decade ago. What was once a three-hectare wholesale market is now home to multiple buildings, with the most recent completed in late 2024 by David Chipperfield. “The ambition was to create a mixed-use quarter with a focus on social and environmental sustainability,” says Chipperfield, whose work couples an aesthetic coherence of concrete and timber-clad structures with renewable-energy systems. Community is at the core of the design; the development has social-housing units as well as courtyard gardens for residents.

5.
THROWING A CURVEBALL
Meander
Helsinki

In Taka-Töölö, a historic if sleepy quarter of Helsinki, a new building is shaking things up. Meander, consisting of 115 apartments, was designed by US architect Steven Holl. Its sculptural, river-like design and influx of new residents is drawing fresh attention to this area of former barracks and neoclassical homes. Commissioned by Newil & Bau, a developer with a focus on community-based living, Meander has a wine cellar, a 12-seat cinema and a communal sauna. It has attracted younger residents to Taka-Töölö, plus many new bars and restaurants.

6.
GIVING LIFE TO A NEW NEIGHBOURHOOD
Baan Trok Tua Ngork
Bangkok

When their ancestral home in Bangkok’s Chinatown was due to be spruced up, the Assakul siblings – Win, Sun, Sandy and Sea – took the opportunity to chart a new path for the neighbourhood.

“We reimagined it as a community space for Chinatown that could set the stage for sensitive development and cultural creativity,” says Win. The family worked with Bangkok-based Stu/d/o Architects to restore the building, which reopened in 2023, and create spaces for up-and-coming businesses to rent. From maintaining the historic shopfront to retaining old teak doors and the spiral staircase, they sought to create a beacon for the district that preserved the old while making way for fresh possibilities.

“To respect the existing businesses in Chinatown, we only considered concepts that brought something different,” says Sun. Tenants include Delia’s authentic Mexican fare, and Namsu’s modern spin on Asian cuisine. Baan Trok Tua Ngork helped to lead the way for a revival of Chinatown as other renovation projects, such as creative hub The Corner House, have since opened.

7.
FIRING AN INDUSTRY
Forskaren
Stockholm

Hagastaden, a new area just outside Stockholm city centre that’s dedicated to the life sciences industry. Danish practice 3xn Architects designed the bulbous, wood-accented office building, which opens with a spectacular atrium and an elegant spiral staircase that connects its seven floors. Here, scientists from some of the top firms in the industry, including cancer-care-research outfit Elekta and itb Med, are busy at work in labs behind large windows. Vectura Fastigheter, the property developer behind Forskaren, intends Hagastaden to be a place where the best minds in life science can mingle with politicians and investors.

“The days when property developers only leased floorspace are gone,” says Vectura’s ceo, Joel Ambré. “It’s not sustainable to have huge office buildings busy between 08.00 and 17.00 but empty the rest of the time. Our clients sign on with us because we give them more than walls and a view.” To deliver on this promise, Forskaren hosts events, talks, art exhibitions and live music in the evenings. “We’re providing space for the companies and visionaries who could change the world,” says Ambré.

8.
GOING GREEN
Carmichael Residences
Mumbai

The affluent enclave of Tardeo in South Mumbai is known for its historic low-slung bungalows and splendid gardens. When Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (som) was tasked with designing a high-rise apartment building in the area, the architects looked to its verdant neighbours for inspiration. At 21 storeys, Carmichael Residences is a towering addition to the skyline but its cedarwood façade is sympathetic to the surroundings, with tropical plants that trail from every floor. “We paid close attention to the site’s context, leveraging the existing gardens and greenery to become part of the expression of the building,” says som’s design principal Peter Lefkovits. The design – with its overhangs that offer cover during monsoon rains – is rooted in Vastu, a set of architectural principles rooted in Hindu thought that emphasise balance and natural forms.

From row A to row Z
Crowd-pleasing stadia

I was in Rome during the recent Derby della Capitale, the face-off between the city’s two big football teams, Roma and Lazio (writes Stella Roos). It was a reminder of the force with which stadiums shape cities: the evening air smoky and electric; everyone in the neighbourhood keeping score based on the roars coming from the stands.

Hundreds of new arenas are being built worldwide. When designed as functional parts of the urban fabric, they can animate a city. Casablanca is building the Hassan II, a 115,000-capacity stadium set to become the world’s largest; in Paris, buyers bidding for Red Star FC are promising to spruce up the team’s historic Stade Bauer as a spur to economic growth in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine; in New Orleans, Trajan Architects’ $560m (€540m) renovation of the Caesars Superdome has brought investment and energy.

In Santa Giulia, Milan, the first stadium by David Chipperfield Architects will be finished this year. The 16,000-capacity covered arena will host hockey at the 2026 Winter Olympics and later serve as a sports and cultural venue. “A stadium has so many technical aspects,” says lead architect Leander Bulst. “Yet it needs to be expressed in a way that people can relate to.” The designs evoke ancient amphitheatres. Now, as then, stadiums bring crowds and energy to a city. Done well, they can be game-changers. — L

Stella Roos is Monocle’s design correspondent.

9.
A NEW COURSE FOR THE DOCKLANDS
Cruquius Island
Amsterdam

Amsterdam’s Eastern Docklands had become a neglected stretch of crumbling warehouses and bygone shipyards until its startling redevelopment, which began in the early 2000s. The jewel in its transformation is Cruquius Island, an artificial peninsula. The development, which was completed late last year, fans out like an amphitheatre, giving many residences an uninterrupted view of the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal. This helps ground the neighbourhood in its links to maritime trade, while the waves lapping against the quay enhance the peninsula’s retreat-like atmosphere.

Once home to factories, Cruquius Island has been reimagined as a residential hub, offering about 415 homes and commercial spaces, with a third of the rentals zoned as social housing. Every home has private outdoor space, be it a balcony or a garden, and the old quaysides have become inviting promenades, giving a sense of street life and bustle. In summer, residents can even swim in the harbour. “The urban plan was shaped collectively, between architects and the developers,” says Irma van Oort, a partner at kcap, the firm behind the design.

10.
SHAKING UP THE SKYLINE
Populus
Denver

The stately public buildings in Denver’s downtown have a new neighbour: Populus, a 265-key hotel that opened in October, with a façade that mimics a Colorado aspen tree. For Denver property developer Urban Villages, the eye-catching hotel – by architects Studio Gang – offered a chance to shake up a staid downtown skyline and create a fresh-faced icon.

“Denver has matured to become a Tier 1 US city,” says Urban Villages’ president Jon Buerge. “But all the new buildings in downtown look the same.” Populus sits at one of the city’s busiest intersections and is visible from the steps of the state capitol, enticing visitors from across the Centennial State for a drink at the rooftop bar or to check in for the night. “You have the opportunity to define the city through the buildings you create,” says Buerge.