Architect Manfred Yuen Man-to looks every bit the city slicker with his gelled quiff and clean-cut appearance. But despite his relative youth Yuen, 33, has a social awareness one would expect from an older person.
Yuen has an architectural firm, Groundwork.
“My clients are divided,” he says. “There’s a bunch of commercial clients who bring in the money”, those starting up businesses, opening factories, developing land.
And then there’s the other side of his work – collaborating with non-governmental organisations, Yuen’s contribution to improving the world around him.
There’s Christian Action, Oxfam, the Hong Kong Society of Education and Arts. He’s an honorary adviser to the Hong Kong Scout Association and helps the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals.
Yuen’s internationally prize-winning designs include a place for elderly people – but not a static one, where people sit on sofas in front of the television. It’s a train. Yuen’s thinks the elderly should be able to travel and live their dreams, even meet others for romance aboard the train, a chance to have an adventure in their twilight years.