Scale: It’s the reason Mark Panckhurst moved to Hong Kong in 1995.

“I’d spent three years at an Auckland practice and, although I enjoyed working on smaller domestic projects, I was drawn here by the scale of work,” says the 44-year-old.

At first, Panckhurst worked for a local practice; 14 years ago, he started his own firm, HEAD Architecture, with British architect Mike Atkin. From their Sheung Wan offices, the pair undertakes “a variety of projects, including food halls, boutique supermarkets and retail projects,” says Panckhurst. Currently, he is overseeing the firm’s biggest-ever project, the interior design of the 35,000m² Esfahan Convention Centre in Iran: “It’s one of the most significant public buildings to be constructed in Esfahan for the last 300 years. It’s a privilege to work on.”

But Christchurch-born Panckhurst says he’s just as proud of a recently completed “modest” house project in Hong Kong. “Small architectural work, which is the norm in New Zealand, is rare in Hong Kong. There aren’t many opportunities to build houses in Hong Kong, so this was a welcome return to a familiar scale.”

Panckhurst also revamped the apartment in Discovery Bay he shares with wife Michi, a Cathay Pacific flight attendant, and their two children Daniel (7) and Sakura (2), turning two smaller apartments into a modern 150m² living space.

“It’s part of a 24-storeyed grey monolith, which is still preferable to the peach-coloured, neoclassical monstrosities that are fairly common in Hong Kong,” says Panckhurst.

While he misses New Zealand, Panckhurst loves his adopted home’s 24-hour culture: “It’s a melting pot of people and cultures, extremely tolerant and a lot of fun. It’s also very adaptable. People are very entrepreneurial and the culture encourages it. There’s no tall poppy syndrome here.”