Well respected residential design brand YOO entry into the red hot property market in Bangkok and setting up their regional HQ here is welcome news for property developers and owners alike.
Their track record of bringing real value and record prices into the property equation is already evident in Thailand’s metropolis.
The brand, which is well known for its high profile designers that include Philippe Starck, Marcel Wanders, Jade Jagger, Kelly Hoppen, Steve Leung and Sussanne Khan, is setting up shop in Southeast Asia.
YOO is the world’s largest residential design brand and one of the most influential names with a stable of visionary architects, curators, celebrity style icons and interior design gurus. YOO now operates in 34 countries and 57 cities.
Architects’ Journal described YOO, “Surely the dream team of contemporary urban accommodation providers.”
This is the first time the YOO brand will be available for design of private commissions, houses, bars, restaurants, show apartments, social enterprises and co-working spaces.
Philippe Starck (left) and John Hitchcock
The UK-based company was created at the turn of the 21st century by radical real estate developer John Hitchcox and international design legend Philippe Starck with a mission to enrich lives through extraordinary living spaces. Focusing on places and spaces, YOO is now the largest pure residential design brand in the world, with 81 projects across seven continents.
The soaring demand for high-end branded residences in Southeast Asia and more than 25 percent of the world’s “under-construction” real estate developments based in Asia Pacific its a perfect time to enter the market here.
“We see huge opportunities for growth in Asia. We really feel the market is ready for our unique brand of design. We challenge, innovate, disrupt and bend rules – allowing our clients’ projects to stand out, adding greater visibility and value to their developments. We’re about ‘the space’ – inside and out – and this is what drives YOO’s design,” explains James Snelgar, Partner & Head of Business Development, YOO Worldwide.
Driving the company’s regional expansion strategy is Rich Millar, YOO Worldwide’s Vice President of Business Development – Asia Pacific, and Justin Dunne, F&B Concept Curator for YOO Hotels & Resorts. Millar and Dunne will bring their complimentary brands of creative talent and expertise to YOO’s Bangkok office.
YOO’s regional headquarters are in Bangkok where its Asia-partner for hotel operations ONYX Hospitality Group is based. In late 2017, YOO and ONYX launched a duo of distinctive hotel brands, YOO Collection and Yoo2, with the first Yoo2 hotel due to launch in Phuket in 2020.
James Snelgar, Partner & Head of Business Development, YOO Worldwide.
Khun by Yoo, inspired by Philippe Starck, developed by Sansiri will also transfer later this year – and currently sets the highest per square metre prices on Thonglor. Other notable Asia projects include 8 Conlay in Kuala Lumpur and a number of multi award-winning residential and hospitality projects in Hong Kong including Mira Moon.
“We are not entirely new to the region, but we are looking to shake things up a bit and grow through our new presence in the region,” says Snelgar. “Our designers will work with leading development companies to bring their visions to life and we will nurture creative talent in Bangkok to build a new team of designers based here,” he added.
Branded residences are among the hospitality industry’s fastest-growing sectors, and YOO is at its forefront with 13 percent of the world’s total portfolio. Fun, rebellious and innovative, YOO is disrupting traditional hotel and residence brands and attracting Asia’s emerging generation of high-net-worth millennial buyers to its designed “spaces”.
As Asia’s affluent young investors demand greater personalisation, they increasingly want bespoke living spaces to complement their designer clothes, cars and gadgets.
“We don’t believe in residences or hotel rooms,” adds Snelgar. “We believe in spaces.”
Written by : Andrew J Wood
