Ropes & Gray 2.0

Our first project for American law firm Ropes & Gray was completed in 2018 when we were appointed for their move to a high floor of One Exchange Square.

Seven years later, the opportunity arose for them to relocate to a slightly lower floor in the sister building, Two Exchange Square, with, remarkably, better views to Victoria Harbour and the surrounding downtown Hong Kong neighborhood.

The same team that completed the earlier project was involved again, but the brief differed somewhat this time around: the emphasis was on spatially connecting the large Staff Café and the Front of House, with a Client Lounge in between.

Carried out on a Design + Build basis over three months to achieve Practical Completion and move-in before the 2026 Chinese New Year Holiday, a relatively short period of six weeks was allowed, up front, for design and documentation.

It was determined early on that most of the firm’s system furniture and Front of House meeting tables / chairs could be re-used, as could many of the proprietary double-glazed doors from the vacated premises. These two moves alone achieved a large saving in the overall cost of the relocation.