The CEO Magazine profiles Collins, who describes his journey to HOK and the firm’s collaborative nature, aka its “superpower.”
Excerpted from The CEO Magazine:
HOK Asia Pacific’s Managing Director Paul Collins is a double threat in the architecture realm. Registered in both the UK and Hong Kong, he brings the best of ‘East meets West’ to HOK Asia Pacific. “When our clients engage with us and see I am a registered architect in Europe and Asia, it gives them confidence that I’m connected; that I understand the way things work,” Paul says.
The firm’s collaborative nature has elevated it far above the competition, allowing it to create close relationships with clients and partners while delivering world-class service. Collaboration is basically HOK’s superpower.
“It’s applied throughout our entire business,” Paul says. “We get the best people to come in, which helps us to establish best practice. It helps us create industry-leading innovation that is shared around the entire firm.
“When you engage the HOK office in Hong Kong, you’re actually engaging the entire global firm,” Paul continues. “We have no hesitation grabbing a particular thought leader from another office, whether it’s New York, London, Washington, D.C., or wherever and bringing them into the project in order to give our clients the very best thinking for what they want to achieve with their development.”
While commercial project design is the backbone of HOK Asia Pacific’s services, the firm’s portfolio is overflowing with highly regarded projects spanning healthcare, aviation, science and technology. Fusing excellence with whimsy and smart with sustainability, HOK’s design ethos is rooted in technical excellence.
“The driver is design and imagination,” Paul explains. “It’s combining that with an incredibly high level of technical excellence to deliver outcomes that are not only functional but also really inspirational. That’s what we’re shooting for every time.”