A conversation with Kai Sheng, the founder and Managing Principal of Archilier, an Architecture firm based in New York and Shanghai.

Kai currently leads Archilier’s design team and has expertise in designing lifestyle boutique hotels. Archilier is known for being one of five finalists in the Port Authority Bus Terminal redesign competition and is actively building large-scale projects in China, where Kai received his Bachelor’s studying Architecture. (Source: LinkedIn)

You grab any opportunity you can. There was no fee…when you’re hungry, that’s the kind of thing you do. 

Kai Sheng

Tell us about the history of Archilier Architecture. 

I founded Archilier during an economic downturn, officially in January of 2010. Before that, I was a partner at a large firm with an international presence for thirteen years. In 2009, I quit my partnership there—we didn’t have any work. There were rounds of layoffs, and the pipeline had shrunk. It seemed time to move on, to strike out on my own. That’s when we started this. We started with just three people. I do have contacts in China, where there was a lot of work, but none of us had built anything there. 

I gave a talk in Beijing, at the International Hospitality Design Conference. There, some clients came up to me. They said, “Kai, you really know hotel design. We have a project for you, two hotel towers—why don’t you send some information about your firm?” We didn’t have anything, so we sent what we could. Two weeks later, they said, “I’m sorry. I know you guys have the ability, but we can’t work with you.” Their employer wanted to work with some of the big-name firms in New York.

That was a year and a half in. You have to grab any opportunity you can. There was no fee for the little competitions, for this and that. When you’re hungry, that’s the kind of thing you do. 

Before you start your office, you can’t just start out with nothing. You have to have some jobs. And you have to believe that they’ll keep coming. You’ll meet people—clients, friends, coworkers—over the years of practice, by making connections and traveling. 

Tell us about these connections and dilemmas.

I’ve worked with a lot of Archilier’s current staff back at my previous firm. I’m so blessed to have my excellent team. They told me, “whenever you want to strike out on your own, let me know, I’ll follow you!” They all knew my vision. It’s fun working with people who have the same mindset. There was no big dilemma, but the initial push was really hard. We had no jobs in New York, yet we had responsibilities to our families. I didn’t want to be absorbed by a larger firm. In our business, there’s always a cycle. If you want to do projects, you need a lot of capital. I’m kind of bracing for the next recession—it’s about time. (This interview was done in 2018)

In this industry, the problem isn’t just the economy. It’s that people don’t send contracts. In our business, we produce the work first, then we get paid. Payment is always an issue, but we never had much of a problem at the office. We tend to keep the cost down since it’s a small firm working solely on design. 

Tell us about your passion for architecture.

Before architecture, my first love was drawing and painting. I wanted to be an artist, and I was good at math too! But I had this fear of art not feeding you. So I became an architect. Archilier really exists in commercial architecture, and I’ve found that the scale of urban design has such an impact on the urban fabric. You masterplan, you design, and you get an immense satisfaction because all the heart you put into your design can make the city better.

I didn’t necessarily want to be the CEO of a large firm. I wanted to start a very creative design studio. I wanted to be able to touch design, have a hand in each design, to feel it.

Read more about Kai Sheng, a Young Dreamer Turned Architect in New York, here.
Find out more about Archilier here.