On a gloomy Friday morning, André Fu meanders through the warmly lit shelves of the library at BESPOKE Gloucester House—the latest design project from his interior architecture studio André Fu Studio. Tucked away on the fifth floor of the newly renovated Mandarin Oriental The Landmark, Hong Kong, it is an expansive 8,700 square-foot private members’ sanctuary that feels lifted straight from the pages of a literary classic. The space stirs a contemplative wonder, reinterpreting the classic mid-century charm of the historic Gloucester Hotel through a contemporary lens. It is glamorous, yet quietly so, featuring intimate salons that feel like elevated residences, a corridor-long library brimming with archival objects, the Typhoon Bar with its regal stained-glass backdrop, and a Terrace dressed in black-and-white checkers reminiscent of another moment in time. At this point, BESPOKE is hardly a month into its opening, and is already booked out for an exclusive brand event in the morning. So instead, we photograph Fu in between the main chapters of the space and in a private suite wrapped in serenity, where he reflects deeply on the 25-year-long story of André Fu Studio.
“I wasn’t really counting, but I had a moment to reflect a little bit and then suddenly realised that it’s been 25 years since I started the studio,” says André. As sports has its legends, music its stars, and fashion its icons, so too does the world of design. André is among today’s interior design luminaries, with some of the most distinguished luxury hotels, restaurants and artspaces under his belt. But this impressive portfolio was never part of the plan, so to speak. “To be frank, launching the studio was not intentional. It wasn’t that I had a full plan and a vision,” he admits. André explains that purely focusing all his effort and passion into every single project, is what has always naturally led to the next one. “My path has been smooth and I’ve had a lot of great opportunities. But despite how it might look from the outside, in hindsight I feel it was just my belief that it’s always about how good the project you just completed is.” And André has completed many, many projects.
In honouring his studio’s 25th anniversary, we gave André the difficult task of choosing five of his most memorable projects over the years. His selection maps a voyage across the globe, with all but one of them being hotel projects. “Hotels are interesting because I always say that other than the airport, it’s always the first place that you arrive when you go to a new location, and it’s usually the last place that you leave from. It’s the prelude and the finale to your journey,” he says. “I wouldn’t say I’m an expert in 25 Cities, obviously not. But I give myself the opportunity to look at it as an outsider. I guess what might resonate well with the people who enjoy my work is that they felt that they were seeing a place through my lens. That’s how I believe I have established a degree of connection with people that resonate with things that I do.”
The Capella Taipei is André Fu Studio’s most recent hotel property, having just opened their doors last year. It marked the Capella Hotels and Resorts’ inaugural presence in Taiwan and, according to André, an evolution of his work. “I felt that Taipei was in need of a very intimate, cosy type of product,” he says. When he first arrived at the site along the lush, tree-lined 登華北路, he experienced something wholly unlike the urban dynamism one might typically connect to Taipei. It is from this initial taste of something different that he designed Capella Taipei with the idea of a “modern mansion”. André cites that his studio was able to be bolder with their use of geometry and colours to “accentuate something that is a lot warmer”. The best example of this is in the lobby lounge area called Plume, where a decorative panel and plush orange and red seats are flecked with gold, as though the space were permanently bathed in the glow of a setting sun.
Also unveiled to the public in 2025, the Waldorf Astoria Osaka—André’s second Waldorf assignment after The Waldorf Astoria Hotel in 2018—was another favourite. Despite admitting to not being familiar with Osaka at the beginning of the project, Fu designed a property that struck a perfect balance between Waldorf Astoria’s storied DNA and the pulse of the unique Japanese city. Drawing inspiration from Yodoko Guest House, an Art Deco-style residence designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1918, André married the signature grandeur and geometry of Art Deco with traditional Japanese craftsmanship to create something much more profound than a simple “East-meets-West” aesthetic. Diagrid patterns, intricate mosaic flooring, and bronze frames brush shoulders with shoji lanterns, washi panels and interlocking timber. It was Art Deco reimagined in the context of Japan, as understood through André’s own personal lens.
André rewinds a few years prior to 2022, where he played a key role in a groundbreaking project to rejuvenate London’s iconic 5-star hotel, Claridge’s. “Claridge’s is obviously the hotel of the Kings and the Queens, and for anyone that is in the hospitality business, I think it’s always been conceived as the pinnacle of ‘classic’,” he says. “Growing up in England, London, and just passing by and seeing the flags outside and finally having a chance to work inside that property and really contribute to it, was so exciting.” The hotel’s audacious redevelopment was largely focused on building a previously non-existent five-storey basement for new customer facilities. Among those facilities was the 7,000 square-foot Claridge’s Spa, their first ever spa and a defining signature among André’s many commissions. “It was also exciting because we could have easily done an Art Deco-inspired spa because the hotel is very Art Deco-centric, but we decided to create a very calming, immersive type of space, diving back into the origins of spa culture, which came from the East.” True to his vision, the Claridge’s Spa is a complete aesthetic departure from the rest of the hotel; loyal to natural materials and colours, it is minimal in such a way that makes room for peace and tranquillity.
The last of the hotels André has chosen as his favourite projects is Villa La Coste, situated on the private domain of Château La Coste winery all the way in Aix-en-Provence. “I started working on the project around 13 years ago. First with the spa and then some of the public spaces and the restaurants,” he says. One decade later, André would continue his collaboration with the property, designing the duplex Residence Suite. A 2-bedroom home complete with a 5 metre high double-height living room, the suite distilled the artisanal spirit of the vineyard into every detail. “It’s a lot more crafty and it’s also about celebrating the daylight of Provence,” explains André. “So, big windows, a lot of whiteness, a lot of finely crafted Burr-walnut that looks like paint. It’s very painterly, the way the wood has been carved.”
André moves away from the talk of luxury hotels to settle on a final project that is dear to his heart: reimagining Hong Kong’s beloved Duddell’s restaurant. “The former space of Duddell’s by Ilse Crawford really translates the feeling of an arts club space, and I questioned what I could bring to the place,” he admits. The answer? History. “I looked back at the evolution of Chinese, Cantonese cuisine, and Cantonese culture. There was a period in Guangdong where there were a lot of diao lou (watch towers) and when Western influences came into Canton. That was a period of really interesting architecture because it’s a juxtaposition of cultures. It’s really when the West and the East collide. Given that Hong Kong is all about the collision of cultures, we did a lot of research on that period, and then brought that whole narrative into the project.” As of late 2025, Duddell’s refreshed interiors feature an eclectic mix of design codes synonymous with the Ling Nan period. The revamped space captures the spirit of a 1920s art collector’s private maison, resulting in an aesthetic language that feels both timeless and contemporary.
As with all big milestones, particularly something as significant as a silver jubilee, the question of “What’s next?” lingers in the air. With someone as decorated as André, it’s only natural to wonder what is left to do and how he plans to approach the next chapter. But his perspective is refreshingly humble. “I think it’s just continuity,” he says. “Let’s say some projects I started two years ago won’t be completed until 2032. So I think I see it as a milestone to remind myself to remain passionate and dedicated. I think that’s probably the biggest finding for myself.” André takes a moment to look back on the life-changing opportunity of designing the Upper House Hong Kong so early into his career saying, “That kind of opportunity is sort of unheard of; it doesn’t happen like that. I’ve been privileged to have that kind of opportunity, but I also felt that because I had that opportunity, I felt the importance of reminding myself to have that level of dedication in all the work that I do. Maybe I wouldn’t have had anything to tell myself 25 years ago, but I have something to tell myself now. I just need to keep it up. You’re only as good as your last project.”
If there’s anything André is excited about for the future, it’s the next generation of designers. “Since I’ve been focusing much more on what I call the private sector, perhaps it’s a moment for me to think about how I can connect better with the local design community or the next generation.” This past summer, he announced a partnership with Hong Kong Design Centre for the André Fu Young Design Talent Award, a sponsorship opportunity for local design graduates to gain hands-on experience with renowned design firms overseas. It has created a wonderful learning experience not just for young designers, but for André as well. “For the last week or two, I was at the Hong Kong Design Center and really got the chance to hear from all the fresh graduates that submitted for the award, to hear how they see the world of design and architecture, see how they present, their energy. It’s all so engaging, so I think I’m learning from them too.”
Photography: Olivia Tsang
Wardrobe: Loro Piana
Location: BESPOKE Gloucester House
Editor
Alyanna Raissa J. Payos
