A Beijing building project by London-based architect Zaha Hadid is proving so popular that the structure is being pirated elsewhere in the country.

[partner id="wireduk"]Hadid's Wangjing Soho is an office and retail complex which uses three curved towers to echo the intricate movements of Chinese fans. But, according to Der Spiegel, the architect's firm is being forced to compete with pirates to get the original structure finished before the copy.

"Even as we build one of Zaha's projects, it is being replicated in Chongqing," said Zhang Xin, the property developer who commissioned the structure. "Everyone says that China is a great copycat country, and that it can copy anything."

Hadid herself seems a little more relaxed about the use of her work, provided the results contain a certain amount of innovation, saying "that could be quite exciting."

The project director for the Wangjing Soho, Satoshi Ohashi, added that without the detailed architectural plans the building could only ever be an approximation of the original.

"It is possible that the Chongqing pirates got hold of some digital files or renderings of the project," said Ohashi. "[From these] you could work out a similar building if you are technically very capable, but this would only be a rough simulation of the architecture."

Hadid's Wangjing Soho is scheduled for completion in 2014.