Linehouse

Linehouse is an architecture practice established in 2013, based in Shanghai, China and Hong Kong. Co-founders Briar Hickling (New Zealander) and Alex Mok (Chinese-Swedish) have experience working in China and abroad, a rich cultural heritage and an understanding of cultural values from the West, the Pacific and Asia.

Asia provides a rich historic and cultural context, and operates as a platform for Linehouse to investigate the rituals of inhabitation and how these daily moments can be celebrated through design, transforming the mundane into performative acts.

Linehouse is a collaboration of like-minded individuals from various backgrounds and cultures including China, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Taipei, America and New Zealand. The practice has international experience in design and construction, from the small scale and the intricate, to the grand and public.

The studio works on projects of varying scales and typologies that allow explorations of both the poetic idea and pragmatic solution. Projects are approached in a holistic manner combining different disciplines: architecture, interiors, product design and graphic design; and drawing on our experience to create new ideas and outputs emphasizing qualities of construction, detail, materials and light.

Each brief is approached individually, creating a poetic concept for each client through research, site context, history and responding to the client’s brief. Through the process of design, each project has a strong narrative and an element of whimsy and voyeurism, creating a unique spatial experience.

Linehouse has been featured widely by the press around the world, including Wallpaper*, FRAME, Perspective Magazine, AD Germany, ELLE Décor Italia, Dezeen.com, Archdaily.com, Designboom.com and countless print and online media.

In 2019, Linehouse was awarded the of Dezeen Emerging Interior Designer of the Year. Other awards include 2015, Emerging Interior Practice of the Year by World Interior News, Design for Asia Awards 2014 & 2015, Restaurant and Bar Design Awards, and A&D Trophy Awards.