Chinese investment in Australian property continues to boom, so much so that developers are increasingly incorporating traditional folklore into their designs.

Several buildings in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth are now being designed specifically with the Asian buyer in mind.

"At the moment a lot of the Chinese nationals are seeking a potential new lifestyle down the track or an investment in a neighbouring and nearby country where there's safety and capital growth," said John McGrath, the chief executive of McGrath Estate Agents.

Last year, an estimated 18 per cent of Sydney and Melbourne off-the-plan sales went to Chinese buyers, prompting McGrath to launch a Chinese language brochure and a specific 'China desk'.

However, smart developers are also getting in on the act and changing the way they build, often incorporating feng shui and Chinese folklore principles into their designs.

"In some instances, we've actually had Feng Shui masters look at the plans so we can ensure that they really comply with people's expectations around Feng Shui," explained Phillip Rossington, principal with BVN Donovan Hill.

Australian architect BVN Donovan Hill has been on a fast learning curve after it won an international competition to design Australia's biggest residential tower, 'Greenland', for a Chinese developer.

"We quickly did the development application because we've learnt from our Chinese clients they like to do things very quickly, and they're used to things happening quickly in China," Mr Rossington said.

Weekly consultations brought constant tweaks aimed at appealing directly to the Chinese investor.

"Every time we looked at a plan, our client was saying 'where is the shoe cupboard?'" he said.

"To us, that's a secondary thing that would come when you're working through joinery. For them, it was in the early stages of each apartment plan."

Artist's impression of the 'Greenland' apartment complex being built in Sydney's CBD. ( BVN Donovan Hill )

Major structural adjustments

It is not just shoe cupboards and red doors, Chinese-specific designs now feature major structural components.

In Greenland there will be no lift button for the 4th floor, no 14th or 24th, in fact the number four has been eliminated entirely because of its Chinese association with death.

Mr Rossington says initial plans to include a dramatic three-storey, roof-top garden were scrapped.

"On pushing a little bit further it seems to have something to do with infidelity, so the garden got pushed from the roof down three stories, so it wasn't a building with a green hat," he added.

Mina Zheng, a consultant with Feng Shui Australia, says that design change is related to Chinese folklore.

"The background story is about a soldier, they wear a green hat in older China, they go to war and the woman is left alone and had an affair with others. So when the green hat came home they found they'd all been cheated," she explained.

Mina Zheng has worked on major developments where entire floor plans have been rearranged.

"We have to design, not to have any missing corners, the front door/ back door position, the kitchen, the fire position, how water flows in bathroom areas, to have it really Feng Shui friendly, auspicious," she said.

In another BVN development in Sydney's west, a swimming pool design was dumped in favour of a giant Koi fish pond.

"We were to develop that pond into a further thing that toppled into a foyer and the Koi theme ran through then another pond near the entrance on the outside," Mr Rossington said.

Ms Zheng says there are a variety of design changes purported to enhance good fortune.

"To have water in the right place brings good luck to you, and prosperity to a residence," she added.

Lucky colours are being used, such as red and gold, and lucky numbers - 1, 6, 8 and 9 are favoured.

The lucky number for Australian property investors and developers is that China remains the nation's third largest foreign real estate investor.