Life.Culture.Discovery.

Designer of Star Ferry-inspired boutique hotel The Fleming on why he gave up his nomadic lifestyle to settle in Hong Kong

Maxime Dautresme, who heads design studio A Work of Substance, has previously lived in Shanghai, Seoul, Rio de Janeiro, Paris and Miami. He fuses whimsy and local culture with branding to create dynamic restaurants such as Hotshot and Bibo

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The reception and lounge at The Fleming hotel, in Wan Chai.

Published: 1:19pm, 7 Dec 2017Updated: 1:18pm, 7 Dec 2017

Why base yourself in Hong Kong? “I grew up in many cities [Rio de Janeiro, Seoul, Paris, Miami and Shanghai], so I always feel like I’m missing out on something in another city. I did that for 20 years – moving from city to city every few years. Your sense of curiosity is not as turned on when you’re in the same place for a long time.

“But I thought, instead of leaving Hong Kong, I should find a way to inspire people, to take what the city makes us feel and put this into a branding agency and design practice. I think we were at the right place and right time because it’s when the F&B scene started to explode. There were new neighbourhood restaurants adding pockets of life around the city.”

Your practice spans branding, interiors, packaging and product design. How do all these disciplines interact? “The mindset of someone who comes from a branding background is very strategic. If it’s a restaurant, we know we have to create a whimsical environment, or an environment that’s dynamic enough to be a set for people to interact with the food.

“We have a lot of F&B experience, so we were able to convince brands [such as Zoobeetle, whose Château Zoobeetle, in Sheung Wan, is a retail store that contains a bar] to use it as a way to relate to customers. It allows us to be consistent on all points of identity, from furniture to packaging – people are reminded of the brands at every step of the way.”