ARK’s William Liu says ergonomics is key to designing Hong Kong’s mini flats

William Liu, a director at ARK, was born in England where he grew up and went on to study architecture at the University of Westminster in London. He graduated in 1990 and moved to Hong Kong the same year. Initially working for DLN – then Dennis Lau and Ng Chun Man Architects – on the Central reclamation piers development, he later moved to TBV Consult working on the government dockyard at Stonecutters Island.

He has also had stints at internationally renowned design offices including OMA Asia and Rocco Design. There he worked on several award-winning projects that included the International Finance Centre at Rocco and the SK Telecom Tower in Korea at OMA Asia. In 1992, he received the Hong Kong Institute of Architects Young Architect’s Award.

In 2002, he established ARK and the studio has completed numerous projects, both large and small, over the years.

These include Swire Properties’ Mount Parker Residences in Quarry Bay; the Ginza-style commercial building, V Point, in Causeway Bay and Emperor International’s Emperor Java Hotel, which comprises 200 rooms, in North Point.

As Hong Kong developers move into the mini-flat market, what is your view on designs that maximise the use of space?

As a designer we try to make things beautiful, practical and innovative to improve quality of life.