HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates Appointed to Restore Shanghai's Landmark Peace Hotel.

Renovation to Focus on Preserving the Historical Integrity of the Peace Hotel While Ensuring Its Commercial Viability

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates, the world's leading hospitality design consulting firm, has been appointed by Jin Jiang International Group to manage

The restoration work is expected to take about two years. When completed, the hotel will be managed for Jin Jiang by Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. Plans call for it to reopen in the latter part of 2010 under the new name of the Fairmont Peace Hotel Shanghai.

Commenting on the historic restoration, Yu Chong Ming of Jin Jiang, said, "HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates was appointed due to its unrivalled experience in sensitive historical restoration and its extensive experience with successful hotel projects in China."

"The Peace Hotel has been a Shanghai landmark for more than a century and is the most famous hotel not only in China, but arguably throughout Asia," noted Michael Bedner, chairman and chief executive officer of HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates. "When it was conceived and built, the utmost attention was paid to the detail of both the exterior and interior design, and to ensuring the finest quality and unsurpassed luxury for its guests. We intend to recreate the grandeur and majesty of this major Asian landmark, and restore it to its place as one of the world's finest hotels," he added.

Originally conceived by British Trader Victor Sassoon, the 12-story Peace Hotel was first opened in 1929 as the Cathay Hotel. Situated on Shanghai's Bund overlooking the Huangpu River, it was built in the gothic style of the Chicago School of architecture with a number of distinguishing features, including granite facing on most of the building and a copper-sheathed pyramidal roof with steep sides and a height of about 10 meters.

Several years later, the structure was renamed The Peace Hotel. Despite having lost some of its "edge" in recent years, the hotel has become the most enduring symbol of the decadent international glamour of Shanghai in the 1920s and 1930s. Among its early guests were a large number of luminaries, including actor Charlie Chaplin and playwright Noel Coward, who completed one of his most famous works, "Private Lives," while staying there.

HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates has appointed an historical consultant to assist with the restoration to ensure that the work complements the historical context of the property. The restoration will be dramatic in scope, encompassing both the interior and exterior of the hotel. Included will be all of the hotel's guest rooms, restrooms, lobby and atrium, as well as dining and entertainment venues. The hotel will feature elegant new restaurants, a spa and health club, and a state-of-the-art business center and meeting rooms.

"It is our goal to present a timeless reinterpretation of the fascinating and exciting period of the hotel's birth," said Bedner. "We intend to recreate the old world charm that the hotel exuded when it opened, yet provide today's sophisticated and discerning travelers with a new level of elegance, luxury and comfort that will keep them coming back each and every time they are in Shanghai."

Bedner noted that HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates has been involved in many historic renovation projects around the world, and will make every effort to ensure that the renovated Peace Hotel will remain true to the integrity of the original building.

"We anticipate that people will be fascinated by the hotel's colorful past, but charmed and attracted by its countless modern comforts," he said. The modifications being made, he noted, will restore the hotel to its former glory and ensure that the property will be both commercially viable and internationally competitive.

About HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates

As global leaders in hospitality interior design, HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates is credited with revolutionizing the design industry. Since it was founded in 1964, the company has continually set design trends, pushing boundaries and injecting fresh ideas in to some of the worlds most prestigious and well-known addresses.

HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates has successfully completed over 900 projects in 80 countries worldwide. Approximately 70 percent of its business is currently in Pacific Rim countries, including many of the world's premier hotels such as The Fullerton in Singapore, the Ritz Carlton Millenia, Singapore, the St. Regis Hotel in Shanghai and the Park Hotel in Chennai, India.

HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates prides itself on its unrivalled knowledge of the cultural, financial, geographical and programmatic requirements involved in design projects, and applies that knowledge to all of its projects, ranging from world-class hotels and resorts to individual boutique hotels, spas, casinos, cruise ships and private residences.

HBA employs over 400 design professionals in 12 offices worldwide: Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Singapore, Brisbane, Melbourne, New Delhi and Dubai. HBA hinges its great achievements on its fundamental values of research and sensitivity to the needs of its markets.

For more information about HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates, please visit the company's website at www.hbadesign.com.