SPINE Architects

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Stephen Zawmoe Shwe and Amelie Chai created the design collaboration SPINE shortly after graduating from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture in New York City. After working for several years at firms in New York including Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill and Tecny Group, the two began to provide architecture services in Myanmar, where Stephen was born and raised. Stephen had always harbored a desire to bring back his knowledge and training in order to create innovative contemporary architecture in Myanmar. The opportunity came with the initial commission in 2003 to design a 100 unit resort hotel and spa over 5 acres of beachfront property in Ngapali, Myanmar. This project became the Amata Spa & Resort, whose success led to further commissions in Myanmar, ranging from more hotels to residential developments, commercial and institutional projects as well as private residences. SPINE Architects, with a staff of over 40, is among the largest architectural firms in Myanamr and is capable of handling numerous projects of varying size and scope. Over the past nine years, we have designed over 300 projects of which over 100 have completed construction and another 50 are currently under construction. Our branch office in Mandalay, with a staff of 11, serves as the base for our upper Myanmar projects as well as additional support for our work in Yangon. Completed projects include FMI Centre/Parksons Department store downtown, Bayview Hotel & Resort in Ngapali, Bay of Bengal Resort in Ngwesaung Beach, Pahtama Office Headquarters, City Mart Offices, and numerous private residences in Yangon and Mandalay. Projects nearly finished construction include numerous mid to high rise buildings: Golden Flower condominium project across from Junction 8, Parami Hotel, 6 Pyay Tower, all 8 story building towers. A four acre residential housing development at Maharsi Yeithar is nearing completion, for which we are responsible for site planning, architecture, and interior design. Projects we have designed or under design currently include an office tower for Petronas Carigali Myanmar, an 18 story hotel on Strand Road, Yangon, the Awba office building at 8 mile, and the American Center for the US Embassy. Recently completed projects include the FMI Centre renovation with Parksons Department Store, Myanmar’s first international retail chain, Yoma Bank headquarters at Aung San Stadium, and Union Bar & Grill on Strand Road. We have been commissioned by several major commercial clients including Ayewarddy Bank, Yoma Bank, UAB Bank, Denko Petrol Stations, and Max Mobile Petrol Stations to provide the corporate image, architecture, and interior design for all their branch locations throughout Myanmar. We have also had the opportunity to work on several projects that involve the restoration and revitalization of historical buildings. These include the World Bank offices, Union Bar & Grill, Belfield Renovation on the British Embassy Compound in Yangon, Yuzana Tea Shop and Residence, which juxtaposes the renovation of an old residence with a modern retail shop on the same compound. We designed the Myanmar Times offices, located in a 30,000 square foot colonial-era building in downtown Yangon, and the offices for Max Myanmar, located in another colonial-era building. For these projects, we focus on revealing the beauty of the original structures while updating the function of the spaces and applying technology to make them relevant and alive. International clients are attracted by our ability to integrate our work experience in the United States with local practice and our familiarity with international design, codes, and standards, whereas local clients are drawn by our contemporary and unique approach to design. Our clients include international NGOs, foreign embassies, as well as local and international businesses. Amelie is a licensed and registered architect in the United States; Stephen is a member of the Association of Myanmar Architects. Our studio is staffed with local licensed architecture professionals, several of whom are actively involved in the new national building code process. Our professional staff works closely with consultants, contractors, suppliers, and governing agencies and we function on a bilingual basis between English and Myanmar. SPINE competition work has been selected and exhibited in New York, Yangon and Mandalay. Our work has been featured in Channel NewsAsia, Architectural Record, 30 Heritage Buildings of Yangon, Myanmar Times, Seven Day News, Myanmar Dhanna, and Esquisses. Last year, our architectural practice was profiled in the New York Times, 9 August 2012: “Putting Myanmar on the Architectural Map.” The efforts of our work are also illustrated in the article, SPINE Architects: An architectural backbone in a challenging land, which was published in the March 2009 issue of Architectural Record, the foremost architecture magazine in the United States.

Stephen Zawmoe Shwe was born and raised in Ahlone township of Yangon in 1969. After attending one year at Rangoon Institute of Technology he went on to the United States for his further studies in 1988. He received his Bachelor of Art in Architecture degree from University of California, Berkeley in 1994. In 1997 he earned his Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University where he won prominent design awards including the SOM Foundation Architecture Fellowship and the AIA Allwork Scholarship Award.

Prior to establishing SPiNE Architects, he worked for seven years as an Associate at Tecny Group in New York, where he oversaw the design and construction of numerous residential and commercial projects including 15 l’Occitane stores throughout the United States and over 20 residential, commercial, and institutional projects including the American Federation of Arts headquarters and Morelle (Equipment) showroom in NY.

In 2003, Stephen Zawmoe Shwe established the SPiNE Architects office in Myanmar. Since then he has been in charge of projects for many major companies of Myanmar such as City Mart, Golden Flower, Myanmar Distributing Group, Max Myanmar, Htoo, Awba and many other major companies as well as international clients such as Petronas, World Vision, Embassies of Korea, Indonesia, Australia, Norway, UK and the US. He now has 20 years of experience in architecture, interior design and project management and has completed well over 100 projects through construction. His projects include mixed use high rises, hotels and resorts, banks, office buildings, restaurants and retails, high end homes and interiors.

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