Take an insider’s look into the lives of some of the most interesting and prominent characters with Tatler’s new interview series, Up Close and Personal With...
From business accomplishments to guilty pleasures, few topics are off-limits as we get up close and personal with Hong Kong’s Tatler community.
In this column, meet one of Hong Kong’s most reputable architects: William Lim, the man behind the firm CL3. Lim’s portfolio includes H Queen’s and the East Hotel in Hong Kong, the Hard Rock Hotel in Shenzhen, the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and the Millennium Mitsui Garden Hotel in Tokyo.
When he isn’t designing some of Asia’s most interesting structures, Lim has another obsession: art. A notable collector of contemporary Hong Kong art, Lim feeds his passion by serving on the acquisition committee for the Tate Museum and the gallery committee for the Asia Society. Here, the architect and art lover reminisces about the best concert he has ever been to and why actor Aaron Kwok must be the one to play him in a movie.
See also: Up Close and Personal With Loui Lim
What does Hong Kong mean to you?
Hong Kong is dynamic, ever-changing and all-embracing.
Describe your business in one sentence.
Pursuing design excellence with a social mission while making money for my clients.
What is a common misconception about you?
With my last name, people think that I’m from Southeast Asia and that I don’t know much about Chinese culture. Some people also think I don’t read Chinese, which is funny.
What was the first thing you bought when you realised you had made it?
When I passed my architect’s licensing exam, I bought a trip round the world. It was 1984 and I had made it professionally but not financially. My wife and I were newlyweds living in Boston, in the US. She and I went on a trip to San Francisco, Hawaii, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Malaysia, London and then back to Boston. I think we spent three months of my salary. Luckily, my father gave me a credit card for emergency use.
