13th August 2024
Colin Ward is an architect and Senior Partner at Foster + Partners. During his thirty-year career at the practice, he has worked on wide range of projects including Hong Kong International Airport, Wembley Stadium, The Murray hotel, and recently the Huangpu masterplan in Shanghai.
Colin tells us about living and working in Hong Kong, a hidden gem in his local neighbourhood, and what we could learn from Helsinki.
Earliest memory at Foster + Partners
As a young architect, I took a two-year sabbatical to travel across Asia and North America. While I was in Hong Kong, I saw an advert for a job at Foster + Partners, which would begin with work on the city’s new airport. It was an extraordinary opportunity that I couldn’t pass by – and luckily, Grant [Brooker, Head of Studio], who I interviewed with agreed to take me on board!
After six months, the whole project team relocated to the airport platform on the expanded island of Chek Lap Kok. We worked from portacabins for the next four years, which was an incredible hands-on learning experience, and an amazing introduction to life in Hong Kong.
I moved back to the city in 2008 and have been living here ever since.
A standout project
Wembley Stadium.
I’m a big sports and football fan, so this really was a dream project to work on. There were some incredible moments – raising the new arch and standing in the empty bowl while 90,000 seats were being installed – which I’ll never forget.
A mentor
That would be the incredible Mike Jelliffe.
When I first joined the practice, Mike was leading Hong Kong International Airport’s superstructure team. I learnt so much him – from understanding design and construction tolerances to working with clients, contractors and consultants.
Mike is fantastic – everyone who works with him thinks he’s the best.
Where do you call home?
Hong Kong, of course!
I adore this place – the people, the city, and its uber urban density. There are more high-rises than any other city on earth, but 70% is green parks and rocky coastlines. I could get a taxi from our office in central Hong Kong and be in the countryside within 20 minutes.
There’s nowhere else like it.
A hidden gem in your neighbourhood
Cheung Hing Kee – an amazing local Shanghainese eat-in counter or take away with mouth-wateringly delicious, pan-fried pork buns.
A city we should learn from
When I travelled to the UK recently, I stopped over in Helsinki on my way home.
I was amazed by the confident investment in communal places and communal buildings for people to live happy and well lives. I visited an incredible new library [Oodi], which offered everything to the community free of charge – of course books and study spaces but also creches for children, sewing machines, instruments you could borrow – they even had 3D printers!
Then, of course, there’s the public saunas everywhere – followed in some cases by a cold plunge in the near-frozen Baltic Sea – and incredible architecture everywhere you look.
Your favourite building to visit?
Too many to mention, but on a recent visit to our Beijing Studio, Pearl [Tang, Senior Partner] took me to see the Temple of Heaven very early one morning.
It was a clear, sunny start to the day and we walked through the park that surrounds the temple. I was struck by how many people were already enjoying the communal green spaces and pathways – young and old. It has become a meeting place in the heart of the city and enthusiastically embraced in a very civic way.
I think it’s a terrific lesson in not being too precious and not over designing public space, but allowing people to make it their own, even when it’s surrounding a 600-year-old building.
One piece of advice you would give to your younger self
I think people massively underestimate themselves.
People are invariably much more creative and capable than they give themselves credit for. It’s just about creating the right environment for people to thrive.
A recent source of inspiration
I’ve just finished reading ‘The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History’ by Elizabeth Kolbert.
It’s an incredible book that argues the earth is in the middle of a modern man-made sixth extinction. She’s a very compelling writer – and reading it inspires you to act.
Early bird or night owl?
Early bird – I love the potential of the mornings.
One thing you can’t live without
Listening to music and podcasts.
Walking through the city and listening to music makes the experience even more extraordinary. I guess I could live without my earbuds, but it wouldn’t be as much fun!
