No rest for easy rider
Appearances can be deceptive. Karl Shiu doesn't seem the biker type, yet the softly spoken architect's arrival is heralded by the growl of a Harley-Davidson. He takes off his leather jacket and places his helmet on the seat beside him.
His love of the classic American motorcycle marque gives a hint of his passion for conserving the character of yesteryear. He is a member of the Hong Kong chapter of the Harley Owners Group and owns two rides: a Fat Boy and a Road Glide. When he wants a change from the road, he takes to the skies and notches up more hours on his trainee pilot's licence.
Such an appreciation of rarity and individuality naturally extends to his professional life as one of the preferred architect-designers for a distinguished Hong Kong and mainland-based clientele. He established KLS Planners in the early '90s as an interior design business working on exclusive homes for local tycoons and celebrities. Shiu is tight-lipped about clients but concedes that some of the most influential chief executives and business heavyweights in town rank among them.
'I get my jobs through word of mouth, referrals. It never ends,' he says, adding that for one long-term client 'it all started with an apartment of hers in Shanghai'.
But in a similar way to the nostalgia of the Harley, it's conservation and renovation work that inspire awe in Shiu. He discovered this when renovating the historic former residency of the Belgian consul general to Hong Kong. 'I completely modified the exterior from a 1948 post-colonial home to something more modern, though I was careful to maintain the building's original integrity, its intention. I gutted the interior.'
The property on The Peak covers about 30,000 sqft and is one of just three or four houses in Hong Kong with a panoramic view of the harbour front. Shiu says the highlight of the property for him is the Powder Room, which is now a 100 sqft area for phone and internet use. The room leads to a chandeliered toilet that is situated between the formal and informal living rooms.
Work on this project began in 2003 and took just a year and a half to complete. The result was aired on Discovery Channel's Super Homes 2, which featured the works of 18 architects around the world. Shiu was one of three Hong Kong architects.
Shiu recently completed the renovation of two floors of a six-storey long-deserted Shau Kei Wan warehouse. Each floor is 2,000 sqft and is occupied by one tenant. He says the building is one of just a few on the island. 'The rest of Hong Kong Island's warehouses are in Wong Chuk Hang and Aberdeen, and of course there are many on Kowloon side. I completely gutted the space. I incorporated a kitchen and toilet and left everything else bare. It's up to the tenants to divide up the space.' Shiu says rental prices for the lots are about HK$18,000 per month.
Projects now include facelifts to department stores in Nanjing, various interior projects in Hong Kong and possibly more 'spa and holiday resort-like' renovations of holiday homes he did in Zhongshan back in 2005. In addition to being the birthplace of Sun Yat-sen, Zhongshan is famous for its Chung Shan Hot Spring Golf Club, which is operated by Hong Kong tycoons. The club opened in the late '70s and was the first golf course to be built on the mainland under communist rule.
Stark differences in attitude exist when working with Hongkongers and mainlanders. Mainlanders are 'quite willing to give you a go, are more adaptable and are more open to ideas than before'. But Shiu adds: 'When I design something, I always explain to my clients why I do it. However, on the mainland, though they like what you've done, they don't seem to understand it.'
Shiu's future projects are as varied as his previous work. Out of three dream projects, the first - to build a museum - is under way. 'There's a very rich individual who's wanting to build a private club in Nanjing for his friends.
'Part of the property is to be a museum to house his collection of Chinese art. The other part is to be a theatre-recital hall for anything from Chinese opera to Western music.'
Shiu's second dream project is to convert a fire station or lighthouse into private quarters 'to live or work in', while his third is to build 'a really incredible home in Hong Kong or elsewhere'.
'It's just a matter of time before I do it. I need to get a piece of land and build on it,' he says, revealing the same kind of gusto that drives him to cruise his Harleys across Southeast Asia or strap himself into a single-engine Cessna 172.
