From stacked malls to sky‑high gardens, Benoy reshaped Hong Kong and Singapore into living laboratories of vertical urbanism.

PRCX: The e‑Zine makes its debut with a landmark feature — Benoy’s Legacy: Humanising the Vertical City — setting the tone for a bold new era in built industry media. As the expanded digital companion to PRC Magazine, PRCX delivers exclusive content crafted for our online readers.

PRCX — The e‑Zine reflects on a legacy that humanised density, fused culture with commerce, and proved that towers can be places of community, creativity and connection.

For more than two decades, Benoy Architects has been a defining presence in Asia’s urban transformation. From their Hong Kong studio overlooking one of the world’s most celebrated skylines to their work in Singapore’s Garden City, Benoy has consistently challenged conventions of retail, interior and high-rise design.

With the recent closure of their offices in Hong Kong and Singapore, PRC Magazine reflects on the legacy they leave behind in these two cities — a legacy that continues to shape how architects, developers and communities imagine the vertical city.

A New Breed of Urban Retail

When Benoy first entered Hong Kong in the early 2000s, retail design was largely confined to podiums and basement levels. The firm quickly recognised that this model no longer matched the aspirations of developers or the lifestyles of increasingly sophisticated urban consumers. Their response was radical yet pragmatic: retail could rise vertically.

Projects such as APM in Kwun Tong demonstrated this shift. Conceived as a late-night shopping destination, APM captured the energy of Hong Kong’s youthful, consumer-savvy middle class. It was among the first vertical shopping centres to embrace a “work, rest, play” ethos, proving that retail could thrive above ground level and become a dynamic part of the city’s fabric.

This thinking culminated in Hysan Place, a landmark in Causeway Bay. With 15 levels of stacked retail, rapid circulation systems and civic event spaces, Hysan Place became Hong Kong’s first LEED Platinum-certified vertical mall. More than a commercial success, it embodied Benoy’s belief that sustainability, accessibility and experience must be integral to retail architecture.

To read the first PRCX cover story in full, view the online version here:

Benoy’s Asian Legacy includes iconic projects in Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and China.

Look for the red X: it signals innovation, dialogue, and the shaping of tomorrow’s architectural narrative. While PRC Magazine continues in print and online, PRCX opens fresh horizons — and this inaugural cover story is where that journey begins.