Cover A rendering of the pool terrace of a Sky Villa at Aman Residences Singapore, Aman's first branded residences in the city, at The Skywaters (Photo: Aman)
A rendering of the pool terrace of a Sky Villa at Aman Residences Singapore, Aman's first branded residences in the city, at The Skywaters (Photo: Aman)
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As luxury amenities become standard, a new Knight Frank report suggests that what buyers of branded residences value most is what cannot be copied, including the architecture
Jonathan Goldstein has a simple explanation for why Aman-branded residences at One Beverly Hills sell for an average of US$7,000 per square foot, roughly 30 per cent above local benchmarks. “You don’t negotiate with Chanel or Prada over the price of a handbag,” the chief executive of Cain, the project’s developer, told Knight Frank for its 2026/27 The Residence Report. A brand, in his view, adds a hallmark to real estate, and buyers pay for that certainty.
The market for branded residences has grown on that promise. Knight Frank counted 903 schemes worldwide at the end of 2025, up from 354 a decade earlier, and expects close to 1,800 by 2031
That growth has a cost. In an essay in the same report, Liam Bailey, Knight Frank’s head of global research, argues that the features long used to sell branded residences, such as spas, gyms, cinemas and cold plunges, are now the easiest things to copy. At the top of the market, buyers simply expect them. What holds value, he writes, is harder to reproduce: the site, architectural provenance, craftsmanship and a sense of place.
The strongest brands have responded by putting their architects at the front of the sale.
Read more: The natural: Robert Cheng of Brewin Design Office on designing Capella Kyoto
Above Timber lattice screens frame the sea views from the living room and bar of a Sky Villa at Aman Residences Singapore (Photo: Aman)
Timber lattice screens frame the sea views from the living room and bar of a Sky Villa at Aman Residences Singapore (Photo: Aman)
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Selling the architect
Above Seen across the treetops of Nai Lert Park, Aman Nai Lert Bangkok is defined by tall bronze-toned frames set against dark glass (Photo: Aman)
Above Aman Nai Lert Bangkok rises behind the mature trees of Nai Lert Park, with a dark glass facade above a ribbed podium (Photo: Aman)
Seen across the treetops of Nai Lert Park, Aman Nai Lert Bangkok is defined by tall bronze-toned frames set against dark glass (Photo: Aman)
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Several recent projects suggest what that looks like in practice, each led by a named architect or designer with real creative control.
Aman Residences, Tokyo
Set within Azabudai Hills, a masterplan shaped by Thomas Heatherwick, the tower was designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, the firm behind the Petronas Towers. Yabu Pushelberg completed all 91 interiors. Private entrances and dedicated lift banks mean no resident shares an arrival sequence with another.
Aman Nai Lert, Bangkok
Jean-Michel Gathy of Denniston, the Kuala Lumpur practice behind hotels for Mandarin Oriental and Cheval Blanc, designed the residences around Nai Lert Park’s century-old heritage house. Local stone cut into elongated tiles echoes the house’s original timber floors. In the atrium stands a 12-metre sculpture of the park’s Chamchuri tree, finished in 6,000 gold leaves.
See also: 8 neoclassical buildings around the world that are still in use today
Above A rendering of a planted sky terrace and pool at Upper House’s Bangkok residences on Wireless Road, designed by Foster + Partners and due in 2030 (Photo: Upper House)
A rendering of a planted sky terrace and pool at Upper House’s Bangkok residences on Wireless Road, designed by Foster + Partners and due in 2030 (Photo: Upper House)
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Upper House Residences, Bangkok
Swire Hotels has chosen Bangkok for the first residences under its Hong Kong-born Upper House brand. Developed by City Dynamic, the 52-storey freehold tower of 156 homes on Wireless Road is designed by Foster + Partners, with interiors by BAR Studio, landscape by the Bangkok practice PLandscape and a wellness programme by Goco. It overlooks Lumphini and Benjakitti parks and is due in 2030.
Don’t miss: Inside Central Crossing: Foster + Partners Hong Kong’s most complex heritage project
Above A rendering of Jumeirah Bay Island in Dubai, where the Bvlgari Lighthouse residential tower rises at the island’s tip beside the Bvlgari resort and marina, with the Burj Khalifa beyond (Photo: Meraas)
A rendering of Jumeirah Bay Island in Dubai, where the Bvlgari Lighthouse residential tower rises at the island’s tip beside the Bvlgari resort and marina, with the Burj Khalifa beyond (Photo: Meraas)
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Amanyangyun Residences, Shanghai
When a planned reservoir threatened his home province of Jiangxi, the entrepreneur Ma Dadong spent more than a decade moving some 10,000 camphor trees and 50 Ming- and Qing-dynasty houses 700km to the outskirts of Shanghai. Kerry Hill Architects restored the houses, with landscapes by Dan Pearson Studio. Some serve as guest villas, and others were offered for private sale as Aman Residences.
Bvlgari Lighthouse, Dubai
Bvlgari has taken the idea furthest. The jeweller has used a single practice, Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, for every one of its hotels and resorts, so the brand and the architect are effectively one. At the Bvlgari Lighthouse on Jumeirah Bay Island, a 28-storey residential tower due in 2027, the homes are separated by layers of what the developer calls architectural coral. The building has sold out, and one penthouse reportedly fetched Dh410 million.
Read more: Home tour: inside Harper House, the last private home on Gramercy Park, NYC
The architect as brand
Above A rendering of a living room at One Circular Quay in Sydney, where floor-to-ceiling glass frames the Harbour Bridge and interiors are by Daniel Goldberg (Photo: Lendlease)
Above A skybridge links the two towers of Le Nouvel KLCC, designed by Jean Nouvel, with the Petronas Twin Towers rising between them
A rendering of a living room at One Circular Quay in Sydney, where floor-to-ceiling glass frames the Harbour Bridge and interiors are by Daniel Goldberg (Photo: Lendlease)
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Other developers have skipped the hotel licence and let the architect’s name carry the project, while still offering the services associated with branded residences.
St John’s Wood Square in north-west London has 120 homes designed by Squire & Partners, with gardens by Andy Sturgeon and staff recruited from luxury hotel groups. “We want St John’s Wood Square to stand on its own merits,” said Gareth Stow, its chief executive. On Cap d’Antibes, John Cauldwell’s conversion of Le Provençal, a historic Art Deco hotel, is also unbranded, with homes reaching €43 million.
In Sydney, Lendlease’s 58-level One Circular Quay, between the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, carries no hotel name. Its 158 residences were designed by Kerry Hill Architects, the practice whose resort work did much to define Aman’s aesthetic, with interiors by Daniel Goldberg. Armani’s involvement is limited to one sub-penthouse. The project is more than 90% sold.
See also: Indonesian architect Andra Matin and the art of noticing things
Above A rendering of a villa at Nhà Estate in Ho Tram, Philippe Starck’s first project in Vietnam (Photo: Nhà Estate)
A rendering of a villa at Nhà Estate in Ho Tram, Philippe Starck’s first project in Vietnam (Photo: Nhà Estate)
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In Kuala Lumpur, Le Nouvel KLCC was completed by Wing Tai in 2017 opposite the Petronas Twin Towers. Pritzker laureate Jean Nouvel designed its two towers. The botanist Patrick Blanc strung stainless-steel cables across the glass facades and planted them with climbing lianas, using 243 species to suit conditions that vary from floor to floor. The project was shown at the 2025 Venice Architecture Biennale.
Nhà Estate, about 100km south-east of Ho Chi Minh City, is Philippe Starck’s first project in Vietnam. It comprises 38 villas, each set on a stone plinth, alongside a boutique hotel and beach club for Larfa Properties and AppleTree Group.
The clearest price comparison is in Manhattan. At 80 Clarkson in the West Village, two towers by COOKFOX have generated more than US$1 billion in sales at US$7,000 to US$10,000 per square foot, in line with Aman’s figures in Beverly Hills, without a hotel brand.
Don’t miss: Cassina and Philippe Starck commemorate 30 years of iconic collaboration
Earning the premium in Asia
Above Timber lattice screens frame the sea views from the living room and bar of a Sky Villa at Aman Residences Singapore (Photo: Aman)
Timber lattice screens frame the sea views from the living room and bar of a Sky Villa at Aman Residences Singapore (Photo: Aman)
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In Singapore, Aman’s debut at The Skywaters set a record of S$6,500 per square foot, in a city where branded residences remain rare. Christine Li, Knight Frank’s head of research for Asia-Pacific, says that in Singapore and Hong Kong, addresses and developers already carry prestige of their own, so a brand must earn its premium through design and service.
Phuket now has more branded residence schemes than London once the pipeline is counted. One of its best-known addresses is still Amanpuri, which opened in 1988 as Aman’s first resort. The American architect Ed Tuttle based its pavilions on Thailand’s Ayutthaya period, and its privately owned villas rarely come to market.
“A brand alone can’t create a compelling destination,” Trevor Horwell, chief executive of Nobu Hospitality, told Knight Frank. The right foundations, he added, must already be in place. Nobu is building 25 branded residences as part of a 400-acre resort on Barbuda, where those foundations are the island’s natural landscape and low-density development.
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Jennifer Choo is Regional Managing Editor of Tatler Homes, covering architecture, interior design, and art across Asia. Based in Malaysia, she oversees regional content on luxury residential design and contemporary art collections. Legally trained but choosing to pursue her passion for design, she previously led notable design publications and worked as an interior stylist and art consultant for property developers, design firms, and private clients.
