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Post Magazine readers may recall from our design pages the colourful Discovery Bay home of HEAD Architecture's Mark Panckhurst, who knocked together two apartments to create a sequence of spaces flexible enough to accommodate the changing needs of his family. Or they might remember the Hip Hotels book series-inspired flat in Kowloon Tong that CL3's William Lim designed for two television executives.
A new series of books showcasing the work of some of Hong Kong's most innovative architectural firms affords a second chance to revisit those memorable homes. It also highlights many other residential and commercial projects of practitioners both on the rise and already established.
'My immediate focus was on up-and-coming architects,' says Ian Lambot, the Britain-based publisher of the series, Contemporary Architecture in Hong Kong. 'I prefer working with smaller companies. They are often doing the more interesting work and their egos are still manageable.'
He should know. Lambot trained as an architect and lived in Hong Kong from 1979 to 1996, working for Norman Foster on projects such as the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank headquarters. A move into graphic design and architectural photography led him to set up Watermark Publications, which specialises in books about architecture, engineering and construction.
The initial set of books comprises seven volumes and features illustrations and commanding photographs of completed and ongoing local and overseas projects of - alongside the aforementioned companies - Ark, Atelier Pacific, Leigh & Orange, Original Vision and KplusK (an eighth book, on the work of Integrated Design Associates, should be available at the end of next month).
Apart from trying to find a balance between the new and the old hands that have helped create Hong Kong's 'vibrant architectural scene', Lambot says he wanted to include Chinese and gweilo companies. Seven additional titles are planned for this year.
The books, with text and captions in English and Chinese, cost HK$98 each and are also available as a boxed set of eight for HK$640. They can be bought at Basheer Design Books, 1/F, Island Building, 439 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, tel: 21267533; Metro Books, Elements Mall, 1 Austin West Road, Kowloon, tel: 21968770; and Palace Cafe Shop, IFC Mall, Central, tel: 21677321.
