FHKIA RIBA AIA(Hons) JP

Chris Law was educated at Stonyhurst College and studied Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture UCL. He is a founding director of the Oval Partnership Ltd, working from offices in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Cape Town and London. He is a director of the sustainable and smart city action research organisation INTEGER Intelligent and Green Ltd.

Over the years Chris has received numerous accolades including Architect of the Year Award in Hong Kong.  His projects have received awards from institutions around the world including the Royal Academy of Arts, the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, the Royal Institute of British Architects, and the Hong Kong Institute of Planners. Chris is member of a number of public committees in Hong Kong including the Antiquities Advisory Board, the Urban Design Advisory Group of the Development Bureau, the Advisory Committee of the Hong Kong/Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park and the Development Committee of the West Kowloon Cultural District. He is Chairman of the heritage conservation and community participatory Viva Blue House Project and Chairman of the Community Development Committee of the St James' Settlement. The VIVA Blue House has won the Award of Excellence of the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation 2018. Chris Law is also the chief curator and founder of the public space action research organisation Very Hong Kong.

The Innhouse ecotourism project received the Royal Institute of British Architects Award. The Star Street Revitalisation Project was awarded the Grand Award by the Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design. The Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li project in Chengdu received the Global Award of Excellence from the Urban Land Institute, and Best Commercial Project Award from the World Festival of Architecture. Chris Law was made an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects for his contribution to Architecture.  Chris Law is a Justice of the Peace of the Hong Kong SAR.

BA(Hons) MBA FCSD

Patrick Bruce has over 40 years of design experience in the consultancy, industrial manufacturing and education sectors. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers. He has substantial experience in the UK and South Africa, and in Asia, where he has lived for 30 years. He was Commercial Director for the Conran Design Group in London in the 1980s and was Managing Director of Conran Design Pacific in Hong Kong from 1988 to 1992. Mr. Bruce is a founding member of the Oval Partnership group of companies and is a Founding Director of the Oval Partnership Ltd. He is a director of INTEGER Intelligent and Green Ltd in the UK, a sister company of the Oval Partnership. The Oval Group of companies are active in Master Planning and Architecture of major mixed use developments, Architectural Interior Design Consultancy, and Action Research into Architectural and Societal issues. Mr Bruce has led and implemented projects across the Asia Pacific region, including retail and marketing studies for retail brands such as Harry Winston, Shell, MTRC, rollout and project management for Hermes, Bally, Salvatore Ferragamo, DAKS, Gucci, Versace, Fendi, design and development programs for airport retailing, and brand development for retail success stories such as Giada in China, and in a variety of hospitality projects. 

BSSc (Hons) Dip Arch RIBA

Sada Lam is a Director of the Oval partnership and has been appointed Board Member since 2006. Sada studied architecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Cambridge.

Sada was the director-in-charge of the Sanlitun TaikooLi Project. The Sanlitun project won international awards including RICS, WAN, WAF and HKIA. Currently Sada is in charge of the design of the Shanghai DreamCenter, and large-scale urban regeneration and TOD mixed-use projects in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Chongqing, Chengdu, Xi’an, Suzhou, Huizhou and Macau.

Sada has led the design and execution of over twenty mixed-use development projects in the region, including high-profile city centre mixed-use developments in Beijing, Hong Kong, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Kunming, Xi’an and Tianjin. Projects previously designed and executed by Sada include: Integer Kunming ecotown; Singapore LTA Circle Line Stations and Depot; Hong Kong Planning and Infrastructure Gallery; INTEGER Hong Kong Pavilion; and Marine Police Headquarters Redevelopment.

Sada taught at CUHK from 2002 to 2003, and was an Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong Department of Architecture between 2003 and 2007. Sada was a co-curator of the Venice Biennale Hong Kong Pavilion in 2012.

Father of fraternal twins, Sada enjoys cooking and baking.

BArch (Hons)  MArch  PhD Arch

Dr. Lin Hao was born in Beijing. He received his Bachelor of Architecture at Tsinghua University, Master of Architecture at the University of California at Berkeley and PhD at the University of Cambridge. He is Adjunct Associate Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, as well as the Managing Director of Integer Ltd and Director of the Oval Partnership Ltd. 

Projects in charge by Lin received many prestigious awards including RIBA International Award, WAF Award, WAN Award, ULI Global Awards for Excellence, Design for Asia Grand and Gold Award, ARCASIA Award, HKIA Annual Awards, HKIA Cross-Strait Architectural Design Gold Award, The Perspective Best of the Best Awards and Sustainable Architecture Awards, The Architectural Society of China Gold Award, “Integration” category of China CSR Award. Lin also received the Prize of International 1997 China-HK Monument Competition, China Children Charity Award from PRC Central Government.

He acts as the Deputy Chief Editor of Eco City and Green Building Magazine, Co-Founder of Rural Community Development Group, WAN Award International Jury, WA Chinese Architecture Award Jury, Founding Member of APA Committee of the Institute of Chinese Architects. Lin is widely invited to lectures and critiques in universities and sits as academic committee members and advisory council members in a few world conferences.

His recent invited exhibitions include West Bund Shanghai, Tsinghua Asia Architecture Summit & Exhibition, Beijing International Design Triennial, BoDW, World Architecture Festival, Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture, China Design Exhibition.

Lin's projects are widely recognised and published including Domus, Architectural Record, Case de Abitare, Condé Nast, AD, Hinge, Perspective, legno architettura, Architectural Journal, World Architecture. His projects are also collected by Architecture Museum of Tong Ji University and Guan Shan Yue Art Gallery. 

Projects in charge by Lin include Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu, Innhouse Kunming, 1 Hotel Haitang Bay, Xiamen Oceanfront Hyatt Centric, KPMG-CCTF Community Centre, Swire-CCTF Bamboo Community Centre, INTEGER bamboo house, Beijing Long Fu Si district urban regeneration. Lin’s recent book is “Green Design for the Future”.

BA (Hons) Dip. Arch RIBA HKIA HKICON

James joined the Oval Partnership as project director in 2006 having graduated from University of Plymouth UK in Architecture before moving to Hong Kong in 1993 followed by post Graduate studies in architectural Conservation at Hong Kong University.

Currently responsible for design production based in the Hong Kong office, he has over 25 years of experience in master planning, architectural and urban design substantially within Asian context, covering retail, residential, academic, institutional, and cultural projects. Recent works include adaptive re-use of heritage buildings and revitalisation of old urban areas of Hong Kong.

In his previous employment, James has developed a wide range of experience as design team leader with Anthony Ng Architects Ltd. Projects include the award winning Tung Chung New Town Development including the CITY GATE development, Property Development Studies for KCR SCL200, Concept designs for the West Kowloon Cultural Centre, Central Ferry Pier development, environmental design and implementation of the award winning Verbena Heights Eco-Housing, innovative designs for high-rise public housing  and environmental sciences building at Peking University. Other project experience with HK firms includes design and tender packages for the Venetian Hotel, Macau and Qatar Petroleum’s  Corporate Headquarters in Qatar.

Design awards include the HK Quality Building Award 2002, the International Property & Hotel Awards 2014, China Property Award 2014 and the HKIUD Grand Award in 2015.

Bsc., Dip. Arch. (UCL), RIBA, ARB Reg

Jonathan Pile is Director of Oval Partnership Architecture Ltd, the London based design studio of Oval Partnership.

Jonathan graduated from and completed his professional qualifications at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, where he was awarded the Bartlett prize two years in succession. From 1985-1992 he was a director at Conran Roche Architects, where he was responsible for numerous master-planning and urban design proposals across the UK and in Europe, particularly concentrating on the regeneration of former industrial waterfront areas and the planning of new small settlements in ecologically sensitive locations.

Jonathan has been working on sustainability-driven projects in Asia since 1992 and lived in Hong Kong for five years before returning to London where he is now based. He ran his own practice for twelve years before joining Oval full-time in 2010. He taught at the Bartlett School of Architecture University College London for 12 years, and is now a regular guest critic.

Recent projects include large mixed-use master plan proposals in historically sensitive areas in Beijing, Xian, Suzhou and Chengdu, and in the UK, projects in Manchester and London.

He curated the widely acclaimed Hong Kong Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2012, and in 2016, in collaboration with Brock Carmichael Architects, he led the winning team in the RIBA International Competition to devise sustainable strategies for the remote island of Tristan da Cunha.

His work has been exhibited at the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Architectural Association and the Royal Academy. His ‘Hedge House’ project was shortlisted in the RIBA Future House London competition and widely published and exhibited. He has written architectural criticism for A10, a journal of European Architecture, Building Design and other publications.

He has recently completed his own low-energy timber-framed house on a very constrained brownfield site in Deptford, South East London and is an active member of the Deptford Society.

He is also a professional photographer and keen long-distance cyclist.

B Bdg Arts BArch

Taryn Swales joined The Oval Partnership as a Project Director in 2011. She has over 18 years of international experience working on projects for the private and public sector, global real estate development companies and architectural consultancies in the United Kingdom, Australia and United Arab Emirates. With a background in Architecture, Taryn has extensive real estate and business management experience working across various disciplines including Architecture, Urban Design, Planning, Development Management, Business Development, Sustainability, CSR and Corporate Business Strategy delivering sustainable urbanism solutions. Taryn has worked across various disciplines within the mixed use and hospitality sectors with a focus on site acquisitions, feasibility analysis, risk management, budgeting and cash flow, strategic planning, stakeholder engagement and marketing positioning, multi-site project management and delivery management. Taryn runs a Mentorship Programme at Venice University for a Masters Course in Urban Heritage and Global Tourism, supported by UNESCO, designed to develop new sustainable tourism models to address the relationship between urban heritage and tourism and the valorisation of heritage buildings for tourism purposes.

AA Inter Grad Dip Arch (Dist) PgDip UK ARB RIBA

Justin joined the Oval Partnership in 2017 as project director. He has over 14 years’ architectural design experience and served as a lead architect at Make Architects in the UK. During his time at Make, Justin was responsible for the interior design of The Temple House Hotel in Chengdu. The Temple House Hotel won several international awards, including the ULI Award of Excellence, the Best Hotel for the FX Interior Design Awards and the HICAP Sustainable Hotel Awards.

Justin was the lead project architect for a series of complex retail projects in Harrods. This includes the Women’s Superbrands, the Hans Crescent Street Grand Escalator Hall and Hans Road.

Justin’s design research are widely recognised, this includes the first prize awarded by the RIBA/LSC for the Colleges of the Future, the third prize awarded by the ArchTriumph international competition board for the fashion pavilion design in Rome Colosseum and the first prize for the ecological carpark design in Shanghai.

BA(Hons) BArch Dip Arch RIBA ARB(UK)

Born and grew up in Beijing China, Ronghao Li studied Architecture at Manchester University and became a qualified architect in the UK. Working as a project architect in the UK at Chapman Taylor Architects, Ronghao had been directly involved in many large scale international commercial projects including Newport Commercial Centre UK, Beijing DongHua International Plaza China, Nottingham Lister Gate Shopping Centre UK, Cambridge Central Library UK and BBC Media City Mixed-Use Development in Manchester. Ronghao Li was the project director for the Swire Sino-Ocean Taikoo-Li project in Chengdu. Ronghao spends his leisure time on a wide range of activities including hiking, football, badminton and golf.

MArch(CUHK), HKIA, ARB(HK), LEED AP+, BEAM Pro 

Ray Wong joined the Oval Partnership in 2008. He has more than 10 years of experience in a wide range of urban complex projects in the Greater China and Hong Kong. He specialises in retail mixed use development, outdoor retail complex, shopping centre fit-out renovation, sustainable master planning and building design.

Ray has completed a number of high end retail-led mixed use projects with some top tier developers, namely Chengdu Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li by Swire Properties, Riverside Chengdu by New World China Land, Hangzhou Intime City by Intime Retail,  Fashion Walk in Causeway Bay by Hang Lung Properties, Green Expo Project by Central China Real Estate Ltd in Zhengzhou, Shanghai Longhua Retail Development by Vanke and Chongqing Paradise Walk by Longfor.

Ray is qualified as both LEED AP and BEAM Pro, with rich knowledge of sustainable community design and urbanism. Ray has established a BIM team in the office and acts as the cluster-in-charge leading the team to research and develop the latest BIM technology applicable to urban mixed use and retail fit-out projects.

Ray is appointed the ISO Management Representative and in-charge of the design and implementation of ISO Quality Management System (QMS) and the setup of IT infrastructure system in the office.

Ray was the winner of the HKIA Student Medal in 2009. He was a gold medalist of CUHK Rowing Team and joined Hong Kong China Rowing Team during his tertiary education. He likes to spend his leisure time on hiking and travelling.

BArch MArch (Bartlett) MArch (Tsinghua)

Being born and raised in China, Deng Ming is a Project Director at The Oval Partnership with 12 years’ experience. She received a bachelor’s degree at Beijing Jiaotong University, a master’s degree in Architecture from Tsinghua University, and a master’s degree with distinction from the Bartlett School of Architecture in London.

Deng Ming has extensive experience as principal designer for a number of China projects, including Tianjin Tianshi Wuqing International Health Industrial Park Development, urban planning of Foshan city in Guangdong Province, Baoji Dongling International City, and Xi’an Gaoke Shangdu Phase 2. Deng Ming was the project architect for Swire Properties’ Sanlitun Taikoo Li (formerly known as Sanlitun Village) in Beijing in 2007-2009, which covers around 60,000 sqm; Sanlitun Taikoo Li comprises retail, F&B, entertainment, leisure, hotel, and other high quality commercial services.

Deng Ming is also the project director and chief designer of a series of innovation work in Sanlitun Taikoo Li from 2013 onwards, including the renovation project of N8 building at Sanlitun Taikoo Li North. Her work scope covers all major stages including initial concept design, concept development, construction drawings, and construction management and coordination. Deng Ming is now based in Beijing and in charge of our Beijing office.

BA(AS), PgDip Arch UK, HKIA, ARB(HK)

Simon Lee joined The Oval Partnership in 2009 and has taken part in a wide array of projects including commercial, mixed-use, residential, master planning, exhibition and interior design.

His major works in the Greater China include Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li Chengdu (responsible for schematic design, resident site team management, development and implementation of tenancy design guide and subsequent tenancy design control), Dalian Planning and Exhibition Gallery, Shanghai DreamCenter FLM Interior and Beijing Taikoo Li Sanlitun. His Hong Kong projects include the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts Jockey Club Amphitheatre, Citibank Causeway Bay façade refurbishment and 5 Star Street.

Since 2014, he has been deeply involved in BIM development and its application in large scale mixed-use, retail and interior design projects.

MArch (CUHK) HKIA ARB (HK)

Nelson Huen was educated at J.N. Burnett Secondary in Canada and graduated at the School of Architecture in Chinese University of Hong Kong with the Best Thesis Project award. He was nominated twice for RIBA President’s Awards. As a member of the NGO Project Little Dream, he was involved in designing and building a number of schools in Takeo, Cambodia. The project did not only provide learning space for the underprivileged children in Cambodia, but also allowed Nelson and his team to earn numerous accolades including the Best of the Best Perspective Awards, 40 Under 40, and AIA Hong Kong Chapters Citations.

Since joining The Oval Partnership, Nelson has worked on a wide range of projects from residential to retail in Hong Kong and China, such as High Park, PMQ, Fashion Walk revitalization and Tung Street, to name a few. He is currently leading a number of mixed-use developments in China, including TOD projects in Shanghai Longhua and Huizhou, urban regeneration projects in Macau and Nanjing, and the newly completed Qujiang Creative Circle in Xi’an. His postgraduate education training, coupled with the experience he garnered from Project Little Dream and The Oval Partnership, has fostered his awareness in socially responsive design and context-sensitive planning.

Nelson is an energetic team player; he is a left paddler of the HKIA Dragon Boat Team.

BA MPhil PhD

Dr Chloe Lai is a storyteller, researcher, writer, teacher, documentary producer, urbanist and NGO administrator. A journalist by training, Dr Lai runs a non-profit website titled Urban Diary to promote sustainability (www.urbandiarist.com). The website documents Hongkongers' mundane tales by words, photos, sound and moving images. She believes tales of everyday life is the treasure trove for everyone who wants to understand and improve contemporary urban living. Her journalism background and collected tales contributes to her profound knowledge of the city's past and present. In 2015, Dr Lai’s work online was turned into a bilingual publication titled Urban Diary. The book was named by the Hong Kong Urban Laboratory & Stand News as one of the top 10 books in Urban Studies.

B.Arch (Cornell) M.S. AAD (Columbia) Registered Architect (New York, US)

Wendy Tsai joined The Oval Partnership in 2018 as a Project Director. Born in Taiwan and raised in California, Wendy is a balance of both Eastern and Western backgrounds. She studied Architecture at Cornell University and Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation, and has worked in New York and Shanghai, mentored by Leslie Gills and Rafael de Cardenas.

She has over nine years of experience in both China and international projects of various scales from both private and public sectors, with an emphasis on retail and hospitality. Prior to joining The Oval Partnership, Wendy was a design lead at the multi-disciplinary practice Neri&Hu, completing projects with global influences such as Lane Crawford, MCM, Vanke, Shui On Land, New World Group, Architectural Digest and Bloomberg. One project for the latter — the Bloomberg Hong Kong Headquarter Staircase and public space was recognised by ArchDaily as Building of the Year in 2017.

As a casual yet passionate runner, Wendy enjoys half marathons and has completed Hood To Coast (long distance relay race events) in China and Taiwan.

BArch MArch

Alina Qin is a senior architect with 20 years' professional experience in the field of architectural design and urban planning, including 6 years in a design institute in China as core design team member; 6 years in design studios and university in the UK and Canada as freelance consultant or competition partner; 7 years in Hong Kong holding senior position in international practices, and 4 years in partnership practice across Hong Kong and China. She has won numerous awards in various competitions.

Her project experience includes urban design, large-scale commercial, housing development, domestic scale projects, competitions and research activities. She graduated from M.Arch Post-Professional Masters Programme with thesis distinction at the Bartlett School of Architecture of UCL (2002-2003) and Huazhong University of Science and Technology (1995) .

A lover of art and nature, she enjoys hiking and Chinese painting during her spare time.

BArch (Chongqing)

Zhang Menghua received his Bachelor of Architecture from the Chongqing University and joined The Oval Partnership in 2012. Zhang has substantial experience in large scale commercial projects, including the Xi’an Gaoke Shangdu Phase 2, Beijing Taikoo Li Sanlitun North upgrade, Shanghai DreamCenter, RIBO Songjiang and Shanghai Longhua TOD. In the Shanghai DreamCenter project, his scope of work covers all major project stages from initial concept design to construction management and coordination of the facade and retail interior.

AA (design) BA Hons FCSD IIDA SBID

With over 30 years of Interior design and management experience in Hong Kong, China, South East Asia, Australia and the Middle East, Phillip qualified in Environmental Design and Interior design and Interior Architecture in the United Kingdom. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Designers U.K. (FCSD), Professional member of the Society of British Interior Designers UK (SBID) and a member of the International Interior design Association, USA (IIDA)

Phillip has extensive hospitality and corporate professional experience, having completed numerous projects across Asia Pacific and the Middle East. His approach to projects is based on a team involvement with strong communication and leadership facilitation.

Prior to joining The Oval partnership, Phillip previous postings were President of The Good Studio, Philippines, Regional Managing Director, North East Asia of design worldwide partnership (dwp) and held an additional position as group sustainability leader and Regional Managing Director of Dileonardo, Asia Pacific. 

RIBA Dip.Arch MA 

Philip Clarke is a Cambridge and Harvard educated Architect with 20 years of experience, passionate about the city and public space.

As Project Director in Digital Placemaking, Philip contributes across a number of projects and disciplines within the practice and beyond. He champions a role in which our forward thinking architects can harness the latest analytic tools to make vital contributions to the built environment, delivering successful, considered civic buildings for today’s—and tomorrow’s—changing market. To the role he brings a wealth of design knowledge in practice, his strengths are clearly understanding how a building is put together and the intricate technical detailing involved in designing and delivering sensitive publicly significant architectural buildings.

His architectural career started in London where he worked for Norman Foster in his very first job in 1991 before graduating. After completing his architectural studies at Cambridge University in the UK where he received a First Class Honours and later studying at Harvard University in the USA, he joined Foster Asia moving to Hong Kong and being part of the site-based fit out team for Fosters Hong Kong Airport project. He later moved back to London and worked for a number of prestigious architectural firms including Eric Parry and John McAslan and Partners. His work covered significant London based architectural projects across a range of sectors as well as work in the Middle East with John McAslan.

In 2013 he relocated to Asia after being approached to join Atkins in Shanghai. He was the lead Architect and Senior Designer on a number of significant projects won in competition. Since returning to Hong Kong with Farrells he has been working on large Mixed Use developments in China as a Senior Design lead working all design stages from Mainland mixed-use to Singapore High-speed Rail Terminus, and the M+ Museum in Hong Kong.

BArch MArch

Having obtained his master’s degree in Architecture from IIT in Chicago, Xing Li has worked in a number of renowned architectural firms, including the likes of SOM Chicago, and Urbanus Shenzhen. His project experience ranges from urban design to mixed-use complex to detail designs. He adopts a holistic approach in his architectural work which combines a deep understanding of the programme and site context together with a consistent pursuit for the best solution for the project. He has profound experience in various public space related design and construction. Within work, Xing Li pursues innovation, high quality construction, and documentation. He is good at discovering and solving large scale complex architecture issues.

Xing Li has more than 20 years of professional experience under his belt, he gained profound vision and invaluable experience in both areas of design and project management.  He has been involved in several award winning projects and competitions, including Fuzhou Haixia bank HQ, Seoul Lotte II super tall complex international competition, and the Pearl River Tower etc.

Xing Li is equipped with wide interests. In his spare time, he likes to play basketball and listen to classical music.