Thomas Heatherwick's flair for wedding creative design with architecture
With work imminent on Pacific Place office lobbies, Thomas Heatherwick reflects on the subliminal value of design
In 2006, when it was announced that British designer Thomas Heatherwick would lead the HK$2.1 billion redesign of Hong Kong's Pacific Place, eyebrows were raised. The wildly creative founder of Heatherwick Studio is now a household name, thanks to high-profile international projects such as the cauldron for the London Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai Expo Seed Cathedral pavilion, but in Asia he was relatively unknown and the prestigious retail project would be his first major architectural work.
Heatherwick, 43, soon proved that faith in his ability to marry his trademark creative design and the world of architecture was well founded. The 20-year-old shopping mall emerged with a refreshingly contemporary aesthetic, with subtle blending of warm earthy tones and textures.
"It was a project made of many details at a very human level," he recalls. "The business kept going, so it was like open heart surgery and brain surgery at the same time while keeping the person awake."
When we meet in Domani, the mall's modern Italian restaurant, where he created a mesmerisingly beautiful white ceiling composed of curving ribbon-like swirls of steel, he enthuses about the smallest of details that he believes are at the core of Pacific Place's redesign.
The roadside kerb, for instance, now features a sensuous curve, transforming it into an elegant, low-slung sculpture, while non-slip stickers required for the centre's new rooftop glass terrace (Heatherwick replaced pyramid glass skylights with a new flat glass strong enough to be walked on) have been designed as part of an intricate pattern etched on the surface. "Why not?" he asks. Elsewhere, natural shading of Rocheret stone floors feature deliberate clusters of darker undertones around entrances.
"There is a special value to qualities that are subliminal," he says. "When you are near something that has been made with love or care you want to touch it. That subliminal value is underrated in design now, but the 'madeness' - how something is created and the care taken to do so - is more important than the big postcard view."