Taikoo Place is one of Hong Kong’s best known business hubs, home to over 300 multi-national corporations. Now it is home to almost as many native plant species thanks to some thoughtful landscaping by its developer, Swire Properties.

Forhad Ullah passionately believes in the power of design to create unique spaces that people feel proud to live and work in, as opposed to the repetitive ‘cookie-cutter’ template adopted in many of Hong Kong’s residential and hospitality developments. “As a resident or tenant, you should be able to say ‘I feel proud to live in this building’,” he says.

“The details are not just the details,” said the late American architect and filmmaker Charles Eames, “they make the design”. And it’s the small details that make all the difference in Bean Buro’s latest project, a stylish and sophisticated workplace for its skincare specialist client.

Mainland electric vehicle manufacturer NIO has always pushed the boundaries of auto-retailing with its high-tech concept stores known as NIO House. But it’s latest shop at Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport – a mix of airport lounge, fashion store and EV display area – takes the model to new heights.

The Bodhi Tree, according to Buddhist tradition, is the holy fig tree under which Buddha sat to attain enlightenment. So, it’s fitting that the heart-shaped Bodhi leaf was the inspiration for a new IT research centre, designed by Hong Kong-based international architecture firm Aedas, on the banks of Nanhu Lake in Hangzhou.

One of the latest offerings from in-demand restaurant designer Kevin Yiu is an immersive Chiu Chow restaurant in Yuen Long with a whimsical nautical theme that references one of the city’s most celebrated designers, Chi Wing Lo. Yiu says he was amazed by Lo’s seminal work, Ark of World Poetry, essentially a floating library, and thought why not apply the idea to the world of gastronomy.

Can architects make good politicians? Absolutely, says Winnie Ho, who once designed commercial properties for local architectural firm Ho & Partners and is now Hong Kong’s Secretary of Housing. “I always see myself as an architect,” she says. And good architecture, like good politics, is all about putting people first.

One of the burning questions for architects and designers today is how to re-imagine the workplace to help companies lure employees back into the office after pandemic-induced bouts of remote working. The team at Benoy took on the challenge with its new Singapore studio, with a focus on flexibility, wellness and productivity, and is justifiably proud of the result.

In the 25 years since a Cathay Pacific A340 aircraft took off from Kai Tak for the last time, the former airport and its surrounds have been transformed into a thriving urban precinct with new hospitals, schools, parks, an MTR station, an international cruise terminal and later this year, two new stadiums. Now there’s a new landmark project, AIRSIDE, rising above Kai Tak station, which pays homage to the city’s manufacturing history and sets a new benchmark for sustainable design.

As the year draws to a close, new leadership teams are taking the helm of the Hong Kong chapters of two key industry associations, the American Institute of Architects (shown above) and the Royal Institute of British Architects.