Steering: Best Practices

Link today is a completely transformed entity from Link 20 years ago. Yet like many generative beings, it is critical to know where it came from to benchmark where it needs to go. Many who can recall those early days have moved on since Link was established. The one constant over 18 years has been Non-Executive Director Ian Keith Griffiths, a Welsh architect with a seat on Link’s board that entire time.

Keith was part of Sir Norman Foster’s team parachuted in to work on the iconic HSBC Building. In 1985, he founded Aedas—a firm amongst the world’s top 10 architectural practices with 12 offices employing 1,000 professionals across the globe. “My architecture experience is what Link requires more than any other skill I bring to the table,” he admits candidly. His professional relationship with the city’s leading developers introduced him to Link’s board in 2007. Following its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, seasoned professionals such as Keith helped placate unitholders anxious about their investment. He brought and continues to bring to the table the knowledge of an architect well versed in new and renovated developments alongside decades of experience navigating Asian cultural nuances. “In my case, though, I felt that I could not help Link unless we worked together,” Keith states. “By doing something personally, I understand it better.”

For architects trained to live and breathe the Louis Sullivan adage that form follows function, Link’s original portfolio of assets offered neither. Analysis of each property showed that hardware and software were well below international standards. Assets were managed with little thought towards what existing and potential customers wanted or needed on a daily basis from their local shopping mall. That sinking feeling of disappointment at how good intentions could have spiralled so poorly out of control kicked Keith’s expertise into overdrive. A grand plan was mapped out with repair, reinstatement, rebranding and repositioning for assets to make sense again.

Keith invited the designer of London’s Borough Market to conceptualise the revamped look and feel of Link’s Fresh Markets. In keeping with how shoppers meander through a market, rigid geometries were avoided in favour of short cuts. “It was important to think about what we call desire lines—find those, set them up, and people will navigate their way through naturally,” Keith assures. “Borough Market has different users at different times of the day. Chefs buy choice produce for restaurants at dawn; housewives shop for the evening meal; tourists stroll through for selfies. We brought the best from Borough Market culture to Hong Kong, fine-tuned to local tastes and preferences—which became so successful that we changed the nature of the city’s wet market operations.”

That’s the point when the community begins changing: after their basic needs are met, they want more. Fresh Markets were the pivotal point when almost half of Hong Kong’s population realised they could have better, fresher, more affordable food choices in a more convivial environment. “By giving people something better as comparison—a welcoming place to conduct their daily business— only then can expectations be raised,” Keith affirms.

At first sceptical, people gradually began welcoming Link’s changes. Success upon success proved that enhancement works. And the tenants that joined Link’s journey got it. They understood that markets are not simple places of commerce: they are about community, culture and people spending time together. “Hopefully we can take this Hong Kong market culture to Singapore: they need it,” deadpans Keith. “We don’t yet operate a market in Australia— that would be an interesting cross-cultural experience.”

Learning from the global classroom

Keith believes that Link must look to the best in the world for inspiration to understand what makes a place that people want to spend time in rather than a mere building for getting things done. That goes for new project categories. “It was no accident that JPMorgan moved to The Quayside,” he says. “The twin towers connected at the core offered the banking institution flexibility. Now we are taking what we learned about the work/live hybrid model popular with tech companies in cities like Shenzhen to Australia.”

Being on Link’s board means acquisition decisions; in addition to return on investment, Keith looks at leasing, architecture and community with a planner’s eye. Does it already have a loyal fan base? Is it sited near key transit arteries for a steady stream of customers? Can it maximise value to its neighbourhood with minimum intervention? Those that tick all the boxes while remaining flexible offer a sure path to success.

“That’s where placemaking comes in,” suggests Keith. “Branding is not about a fan wearing his team’s football jersey. It grows over time if things are done well. It is the goodness associated with a company: intangible, fragile, easily destroyed and extremely difficult to build back. Placemaking is one of those intangibles. It is when people go to an asset, use it and change it. It becomes their place. If we get it right, people will feel it is special—they will nurture it and use it as if in their own homes. Architects and developers can kick-start it. But I would argue that Link placemaking is still in its infancy. We can do a lot more. And we will, with Link 3.0.”

Keith is honest about Link’s many hits and misses over the years. Lok Fu Place was a hit after its confusing circulation was sorted though it remains an on-going project as its community evolves and expands. Temple Mall was an instant hit after two malls were rebranded as one complex with aesthetical and cultural cues adapted from nearby Wong Tai Sin temple complex. H.A.N.D.S. was a successful integration of disparate entities that exploited its prime location in the heart of Tuen Mun. Yet Stanley Plaza is an unfortunate miss despite its award-winning enhancement: geographically dislocated from where expats live and at odds with the estate residents adjacent to be relevant enough for its community’s daily needs.

Going forward, Link’s well of knowledge based on years of trial and error to determine what works will be handy for its journey abroad. “Enhancement guidelines are crucial,” Keith believes. “They are about defining parameters for designers new to our projects to understand what works and what doesn’t. They no longer start from scratch for each new project. And we can apply this methodology across the globe with adjustments for every location. The average Australian is taller than the average Chinese, meaning that our basin height in Hong Kong is too low in Sydney. We need to think about the users and their culture. Our edge is that we offer an active understanding of the subtleties behind every neighbourhood and culture we deal with.”