Architect Ken Yeang has been appointed to design the headquarters for the Olympic Council of Asia, which is based in Kuwait City.

The 65,000 m2 building will become the main home of the Olympics in Asia. It will cost at least £70m and will include a 35-storey tower containing office space and a hotel. The complex will also have two swimming pools – one for men and one for women, as mixed bathing is not allowed in Kuwait.

Commenting on the Kuwait scheme, Yeang said: “The Olympic building will be designed with sustainability in mind. It’ll be a green building.”

Yeang’s firm, TR Hamzah & Yeang, already has a presence in Kuwait through his work at Al-Ghofa, a 43-storey tower complex owned by the Al-Safat Corporation. Last month the corporation asked him to masterplan a further 15 acres on the site.

Yeang also aims to increase his presence in Britain.

The new Olympic building will be designed with sustainability in mind. It'll be a green building

Ken Yeang

Last month, Building revealed that talks had reopened between the Malaysian architect and developer St Modwen over the Elephant & Castle regeneration scheme in south London.

Yeang designed a 35-storey “eco-tower” for St Modwen’s shopping centre site four years ago. The plan included a 35-storey tower and two 12-storey buildings. Yeang will present his design for the structure, billed as “the greenest building in the world”, at the end of this month.

Yeang is also working on a user-friendly guide to sustainable design. The book is intended for architects, town planners and local government officials. It could be available next year.

Yeang’s designs often use a “vegewall” system of plants, and a series of vents running the length of the building in place of air-conditioning. The architect has used the same system on his competition design for a 125 m tower in Zurich, Switzerland.