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.