Global Vehicle Architecture (GVA) - a specialist independent design company encompassing all forms of transportation design - has opened a fully-equipped design studio in Beijing to cater for the growing demand for design support services. GVA is unique in that it is the first European automotive designer led facility of its kind in China offering complete in-house modeling capabilities.
The 2,000 square-meter studio, situated only 10 minutes from the 798 Art district and in close proximity to Beijing's airport, boasts extensive facilities including an 18-meter plate area, and prototype car build capabilities.
The founder of GVA, Narendra Karadia, and his co-partners Riaz Sherazee and Jason Chang, are buoyant about the future prospects of the company, having already successfully completed numerous 'from the ground-up' automotive design projects.
Both Narendra Karadia and Riaz Sherazee are experienced automotive designers having lead design studios and teams in Europe and China, and have more than 18 production cars and some 10 show cars to their credit.
Narendra Karadia, a graduate from Art Center Europe in Vevey, has held positions at Volkswagen as a senior designer, and as chief designer of Ford of Europe. After a brief spell at Jaguar Land Rover, he decided to take up the challenge of working in China, the result of which is the opening of GVA's new facility in Beijing. "It is the dream of many designers to have their own design studios without any constraints", said Karadia. "I've been fortunate enough to secure key personnel that share my passion and have allowed us to create a design-decadent vision".
In their opinion, setting up a facility of this kind in Beijing was an obvious thing to do. "With our experience and knowledge of the European and Asian automotive design industries, we can not only provide valuable creative insights and solutions for our customers, but can also provide high quality end products, be they 2D or 3D", said Narendra Karadia.
Riaz Sherazee shares a similar background to Karadia, having held leading design positions at Volkswagen and Ford, as well as a leading position at Shanghai General Motors/Patac in China. "Our competitive edge would be to supply clay models and concept cars that can be built and delivered with a higher level of surfacing and build quality," he said.
Jason Chang, a former mechanical and electrical chief engineer, also has considerable experience with automotive OEMs including Jeep and Aprilia, and has worked in the field of supplier development and design orientated business acquisitions in China.
High on the team's agenda was to provide a facility that would be conducive to creative thinking and good design: "For us it was really important that not only our own design team, but also our potential clients, feel comfortable and enjoy the experience of working here", said Narendra Karadia. "We don't see design as a 9 to 5 job, but a lifestyle and way of thinking, and the environment in which we work should reflect this."
For further information contact GVA at info@gv-architecture.com
