The King Of Queens

Architect William Lim’s passion for art and buildings that combine form and functionality have fed into his work at Hong Kong’s landmark new gallery hub and other major projects around the region.

- Duncan Forgan

Few architects in the world, let alone Asia, are identified with a city’s art scene quite as intrinsically as William Lim. The founder of award-winning practice CL3, famous for ground breaking projects that include Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, Gaysorn 2 Plaza in Bangkok and Hotel Icon and Hotel East in Hong Kong, Lim is an artist in his own right and a famously voracious collector. He’s also regarded as an enthusiastic champion of emerging Hong Kong artists and galleries and of the creative climate in the territory: something he has taken to a whole other level with the unveiling of H Queens, a 24-storey purpose built vertical gallery building in the heart of Central. Lim, unsurprisingly, is bursting with pride in his new baby, which has already attracted top tier tenants such as David Zwirner, Pearl Lam and Whitestone. The architect though is also eager to chat about other CL3 commissions as well as an overall design philosophy that scorns homogeneity and puts an emphasis on purpose.

As a long-term champion of the creative industries, how does it feel to be so instrumental to H Queens, a project that looks set to elevate Hong Kong’s standing on the global art stage?