UNESCO - the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was founded on 16 November 1945. For this specialized United Nations agency, it is not enough to build classrooms in devastated countries or to publish scientific breakthroughs. Education, Social and Natural Science, Culture and Communication are the means to a far more ambitious goal: to build peace in the minds of men.

The UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards recognize the efforts of private individuals and organizations that have successfully restored and conserved structures and buildings of heritage value in the region.

UNESCO believes that recognizing private efforts to restore and adapt historic structures will encourage other property owners to undertake conservation projects within the community, either independently or by seeking public-private partnerships.

1 September, 2006 - The UNESCO Regional Advisor for Culture in Asia and the Pacific announced today that Bund18 has been honored with the Award of Excellence in the 2006 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation. A total of 36 entries were received this year for the Heritage Awards from 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The Award of Distinction winner, Bund 18 (Shanghai, China), was commended for demonstrating the highest level of technical standards in converting China's first foreign-capital bank into a high-end commercial building. The project has been accomplished through a successful partnership between international technical experts and local Chinese specialists and craftspersons, using a marriage of modern conservation techniques and local building traditions. The project's prominent location and subsequent popularity promise not only to redefine the modern face of Shanghai, but also to establish a new benchmark for technical sophistication, conservation rigor as well as commercial success.