Aedas Global Board Director Christine Lam and Executive Director Cary Lau talked to Hong Kong Economic Times for its year-end special feature Architects Series. They shared Aedas’ design vision ‘Designing for people’ and the global architecture and design trend.
 
Watch the video interview HERE.
 
Below is the translation of the article:
 
International architecture and design firm Aedas designs for people
 
With currently over 1,600 staff around the globe, Aedas expanded worldwide since it established its first office in Hong Kong in 2002. Two architects from Aedas Hong Kong office, Global Board Director Christine Lam and Executive Director Cary Lau shared the company’s design vision of ‘Designing for people’ as well as the architectural features in different places.
 
Dubai Metro in Dubai, Hong Kong International Airport Midfield Concourse, Olympia 66 in Dalian, London Coliseum’s restoration, MTR South Island Line (East) Ocean Park and Wong Chuk Hang Stations which is expected to be completed in 2017 are all works from Aedas.
 
“Architects work for people and architects around the world do,” said Christine. Architectural designs should be human-oriented and respond to local cultures and traditions.
 
Architectural features vary and are unique in different places. For example, it is common to have a basement car park in Asia but people in Europe may think it is a waste of resources as Europe has abundant land supply. For residential projects, Christine stated that spatial planning is a priority in Singapore, like the transition from balcony to the interiors, and from areas with high privacy to areas with lower privacy.
 
In China, breakfast room is common. It is placed between kitchen and dining area for casual and light meals. Some residences in China also consist of Chinese and Western kitchens. In Hong Kong, an apartment is usually like a box without much layering and zoning besides dining area and bedrooms.
 
Humanised design for smaller size apartment
 
In Hong Kong, a number of smaller size apartments were recently put in the market. Cary expressed that the design of these apartment types should fulfill users’ daily needs to create tailored and flexible living environment.
 
Taking an example of his design Gramercy in Mid-levels, a standard apartment has sliding doors which can connect the living room and the bedroom when they are open. Bathrooms have two doors, one to the bedroom and one to the living room, providing higher flexibility to users.
 
Cary also suggests to make good use of vertical spaces, for example, the kid’s bedroom and playing area as well as the storage spaces.
 
Streamlined façade
 
Hong Kong’s architecture has been changing in the past decade, from European style to minimal, according to Cary. Nowadays, computer system can help improve a spatial plan and forecast a streamlined outlook. Façade materials also changed from tiles to aluminum, stone and glass. Apartment size tends to get smaller.
 
Christine and Cary were college mates and have almost 20 years of architecture and design experience. Christine said, “Being an architect is not simply a job. An architect has the mission and responsibility to the society. It is a life-time commitment.” Young architects should have passion in architecture so that it will become a life-long career.