By Johnni Wong | Feb 3, 2010

Trendsetter of Asian design

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Leung is reputed to run the largest interior design firm in Asia.

Trendsetting Hong Kong architect Steve Leung is one of the leading lights in the world of design. He is reputed to operate the “largest” interior design firm in Asia. Remarkably, he has been named - for the eighth time - “World’s Best Interior Designer” in the annual Andrew Martin International Interior Design Review. In an e-mail interview, JOHNNI WONG finds out what drives the designer.

ARCHITECT and interior designer Steve Leung, 52, doesn’t much relish doing residential projects for the simple reason that it would be difficult to fulfil the needs of different members of a family. Furthermore, with private residential projects, he and his team can hardly try out new design elements due to budget and time constraints.

Nevertheless, Leung has been able to create some ground-breaking interiors (www.steveleung.com) for some of the most luxurious properties in Hong Kong and in other cities. More up his sleeve would be design projects for corporate entities, ranging from “show flat” to hotel properties. This year, his firm - Steve Leung Designers Ltd - reinforces its position at the cutting-edge of Asian design with innovative Hong Kong projects including the newly-opened Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Sha Tin and the Crowne Plaza, Causeway Bay.

Q: How would you describe your design style and philosophy?
SL: I do not really stick to a particular kind of design style as that restricts a designer’s creativity but I am an advocate of contemporary styles. I prefer minimal, elegant and functional designs, which incorporate unique cultural and arts elements, relevant to each particular project.

One of the main purposes of design is to improve the quality of life. Therefore, a designer (himself or herself) must enjoy life and be eager to achieve excellent living standards. Quality of life is not synonymous with extravagance: it is not necessarily associated with money. It is a kind of attitude, achievable through constantly trying to improve oneself and one’s environment while enjoying thinking about a variety of better solutions to solve contemporary problems. “Enjoy Life, Enjoy Design” is actually my motto.

Q: What was the biggest break in your career?
SL: I have been very lucky in terms of my career and having had the opportunity to create my own firm at 30 was an incredible break. At a young age, I was able to lead talented designers under my own personal vision and of course, by owning my own design consultancy I made all the decisions. Breaking into the industry at 30 has enabled me to gain invaluable industry and life experiences which are evident in my designs.

Day-dining overlooking the garden at Hyatt Regency Hong Kong Shatin.

Q: What were your main objectives when you established Steve Leung Designers Ltd in 1997? Is your goal still the same?
SL: I established my own business (an architectural and urban planning consultancy) when I was 30 in 1987 and I restructured the company into Steve Leung Architects Ltd & Steve Leung Designers Ltd in 1997, when I was 40 years old. The main objective of the restructure was to inform my clients that our company was capable and interested in handling both architectural and interior design projects. I wanted to communicate that we would provide a professional interior design service, which is our core business, not a side-product.

Since I’m often intrigued by new and exciting challenges, the product life cycle of interior projects is more compatible to my personality than that of architectural and urban planning projects. Throughout the years, our interior designs have been well received in the market and now, in 2010, our projects are mainly interior design projects. Most of them are real estate design projects such as show flats, standard provision, residential club houses and sales offices. In terms of the future, interior design will still be our core business, but we will place more emphasis on hospitality design projects, such as hotels and restaurants.

Q: How do you operate the “largest” interior design firm in Asia? How do you manage a team of “over 300” spread throughout offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing? What is it like working for Steve Leung?
SL: Just like a 3-Star Michelin restaurant group, our Hong Kong head office serves as the central kitchen, where designers work closely with me to seek new ingredients and try out new design concepts. Therefore every project’s design is conceptualised and developed at our headquarters by an experienced team, which I personally oversee to ensure quality, market acceptance and client satisfaction. Besides, the designers are divided into different teams and sub-teams, each team specialises in doing certain types of projects. Our branch offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing adopt and implement the design concepts into different projects.

I believe vigilance and attention to detail are the attributes of good project management, and this is true of every stage of a job; from scheme design, development, production, material sourcing, furnishing to construction supervision. Therefore, we have established a system with five-stage reviews to fulfil our obligation to clients and to exercise strict quality control. We also have our own in-house decorators and product designers to work side by side with the designers to yield the best results in every piece of work.

The main lobby of Hong Kong Hyatt Regency.

» See more fabulous pictures of Steve Leung's designs.

In addition to design professionals, we also have dedicated departments for business development and corporate communications to provide professional consultancy services in related fields, to fulfil the needs of clients and media, and to facilitate the best mode of cooperation between clients and designers.

I welcome and encourage creative and new ideas, but I look for quality and efficiency at the same time. So I guess, working for me is exciting but challenging.

Q: Wouldn’t you - as the principal designer - have difficulty in focusing on the respective projects and delivering the “Steve Leung vision” to clients? Or do your “associates” do most of the design work?
SL: It’s true that it’s difficult. Being the managing director of the company is like being the coach of a football team. I will definitely be involved in the initial stages of every project to set out the strategy, working plan and as mentioned before, I’ll review each project from time to time to ensure that the progress of the job is on the right track. As for the rest of the design works, I provide my trusted associates with the freedom to decide, implement and execute.

Q: How do you approach or evaluate a project in terms of accepting or rejecting it?
SL: We evaluate a project’s worthiness through the following aspects:
- Location
- Client’s background
- Scale of the project (total amount of work involved à total contract sum), if it is good enough to achieve the economy of scale
- Architectural design style
- Market positioning of the project
- Design period (if short, whether we have the manpower; if long, whether the turnover is too slow)
- My personal interest
- Profile of the project (see if it will bring in benefits other than monetary ones)