Architect Andre Fu and his 'new language of hospitality interior design'
Andre Fu is trying to avoid being typecast in East-meets-West mould as he makes a name for himself around the world
In his office, tucked away on Central's Duddell Street, Hong Kong-based architect André Fu is presenting drawings of his latest project, a "super-suite" to be opened soon in one of London's landmark hotels, The Berkeley.
When The Opus suite starts accepting guests, it will be one of the largest and most luxurious in the capital. Five hotel rooms and a suite overlooking Hyde Park were removed to make way for the new, 260 square metre, two-bedroom suite.
"The project came out of nowhere," Fu said. "About two years ago I was about to leave the office when a man appeared at the door asking to see me. It transpired he was the owner of the Maybourne Hotel Group, who was visiting Hong Kong and staying at The Upper House in Admiralty. He liked what he saw of my interiors work there."
Despite his relatively young age (he is in his mid-30s), the softly spoken designer - who set up his own business, AFSO (Andre Fu StudiO) after graduating with a Masters in Architecture from Cambridge University in 2000 - has become the go-to person for modern hospitality design.
It helps that despite efforts to define him as one sort of a designer or another, he continues to deliver fresh new designs balanced with a reliably elegant sensibility.