DALLAS--Harwood International has broken ground on its latest development with watchmaker Rolex, The Rolex Building, a seven-story, 136,857-square-foot building in Uptown.

Slated to be complete by winter 2016, it will become the ninth development in the 18-city block master-planned district of HARWOOD.

“We built the first office building in Uptown, and after 30 years, Rolex and Harwood International are partnering once again to build another addition in our district,” says Gabriel Barbier-Mueller, founder and CEO, Harwood International. “This development will set a new standard for work life in the U.S. We intend on creating an office that will feature a unique blend of innovative architecture and gardens that Dallas has never seen before.”

The Rolex Building is being designed in collaboration with Dallas-based HDF LLC and Tokyo-based Kengo Kuma & Associates. The building will include 56,422 square feet of office spaces designed by world-renowned landscape architect Sadafumi Uchiyama will include a Japanese-inspired tiered garden featuring rampart stone walls at the base of the building with reflecting pools and cascading waterfalls spilling over the sides. A motor court is nestled within gardens and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks will tie the site to the gardens of Saint Ann Court and across to the existing Rolex building.

“When managing a brand, you have to ask yourself every morning what makes a difference,” Rolex CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour said at the groundbreaking. “We at Rolex we are global. We need to have a team and thank you for our team from the U.S. for being here today and for being behind Rolex every morning, 365 days a year. This building in Dallas will be our sixth in the U.S. It looks like Rolex loves America and that America loves Rolex.”

HCMS, a construction management services firm led by Jeff Smith and Oliver Barbier-Mueller, will be in charge of procurement and hiring various contractors and coordinating all general contracting needs for the project.

“This building will enable us to be not just the No. 1 brand in the world, but the No. 1 brand in terms of service,” Stewart Wicht, president and CEO of Rolex Watch USA, said at the ground-breaking. “This new building will enable us to go forward in the future with the confidence to provide that service which our customers have become so accustomed to. Thank you to Gabriel Barbier-Mueller and all of the Harwood International team to help us realize that dream and we look forward to seeing the building go up.”