LAAB Architects winning the M+ commission was no accident: the team have specialised in arts and cultural projects since the beginning of their practice—from participating in the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale in Japan to collaborating with F11 Foto Museum founder and director Douglas So on the camera-inspired F22 Foto Space gallery—winning dozens of international awards in the process. Sustainably minded designs have been a signature of Ng’s from the start; he began engaging with green initiatives like cycling infrastructure and solar power while studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Smart architecture is not only about developing technologies for greener construction, but also about infusing intelligent strategies that will help maintain the health of our ecology,” he said in 2015.

Last year, LAAB won Design Practice of the Year at the INDE Awards, a regional architectural prize that recognised the studio’s multidisciplinary approach to design. “The studio’s diversity ensures that every project, whatever the genre, is resolved by an architectural approach that is driven by a process of making, guided by narratives of a place, and born out of deep respect for the natural environment and cultural contexts,” the awards body said of LAAB. Looking ahead, Ng will continue to design for hospitality, but is also working on an office project that rethinks working culture, and public space projects that enhance people’s interaction with outdoor landscapes. He will also continue to meld architecture with art by turning part of the LAAB studio into a gallery. After all, as he and his team have proved time and time again, the best spaces are the ones that spark the imagination of those who use them. Ng says, “I’m trained as an architect, but I’d say I’m more like a storyteller. I tell stories about a place and its community through the media of architecture and art.”