Curious Wallflowers: RIOS’s Huay Wee on Owning Your Strengths, Building Relationships, and Finding Harmony
By Julia Gamolina
Huay Wee, Creative Director and Partner at RIOS, leads the collective’s single-family and hospitality practice. She is a thoughtful and motivational leader, renowned for artfully directing a multidisciplinary crew of architects, landscape architects, interiors, graphics, and experiential designers. Her work includes private residences, office spaces, and mission-driven projects. She comes to know her teams and clients intimately and fosters long-term relationships with talented craftspeople and artists to translate designs into exquisite spaces.
In her interview, Huay talks about cultivating her generalist and multidisciplinary approach, the importance of building relationships early, and her love of art, advising those just starting their careers to be open to evolution and change.
JG: Tell me about your foundational years - where did you grow up and what did you like to do as a kid?
HW: My family immigrated from Singapore when I was a toddler, and I grew up in Calgary, Alberta in Canada. Much of my childhood was spent observing because I did not feel I fit in. It was the ‘70s, and culturally we were trying to assimilate. My parents traveled an atypical path from the tropics to a snowy province and they wanted my brother and I to succeed! When reflecting on my childhood, I now see a typical immigrant story where there was a path carved out for me by my parents. There was a real focus on excelling for a professional trajectory.
While I catered to my parent’s direction as a child and teenager — got good grades, played in the band, and sang in the choir — as an adult, I can see how I carved out my forms of communication and activities that would later translate into what I love to do in my professional life. Because my first language was Cantonese, and after moving to Canada, I was simultaneously learning English and French, I had difficulty speaking to my teachers. And so, I picked up a pencil and I took comfort in drawing. I loved art class and was incredibly comfortable in that space. Additionally, my physical environment allowed me to explore design in an unexpected way. Calgary gets a lot of snow, so one of my favorite activities was digging tunnels, trenches, and snow chambers in the backyard after the big snowstorms. It was a wonderful pastime and the very first glimpse into a future career in design.
Huay Wee and brother in Calgary, Alberta in fall/winter of 1983. Photo courtesy of Huay Wee.
Huay in the drummer seat position of a San Francisco race. She was part of the LA Racing Dragons team for 10 years.
That’s quite a change so early in life! I also immigrated to Canada, but from similarly snowy Siberia. How did you get your start in architecture?
My interest in architecture began when I went to boarding school in Malta. I was mesmerized by the megalithic temples and this island city that is a mix of Arabs and Europeans. It was the first time I saw the buildings that were related to what had been only part of Greek and Roman mythologies. To me, this architecture was mysterious. At the time, I did not consider architecture as a possible profession, but I was fascinated by this exotic port city and its ruins and the history of its intriguing spaces. I was curious. I wanted to know what people did in those spaces and their lives. The contrast to my Canadian childhood was striking and impressed on me how different the world and people could look and be.
When I graduated high school, I went directly to the school of architecture at the University of Toronto. My parents wanted me to study medicine or law, but I submitted a portfolio and entered architecture school. It was an entirely new challenge for me, but it is where I found my tribe. It was challenging work because it pushed me into a completely different way of thinking and seeing and required me to analyze what I was looking at as well as relearn how to approach problems. I always remained curious, and it was a wonderful experience to meet other people like me who were excited about looking at spaces and experiences in a way I had not encountered before. When I returned to Europe, I saw cities with new eyes and a new way of thinking.
How did you get to RIOS?
My path to RIOS was serendipitous. My first job out of school was with Kongats Phillips, now known as Kongats Architects. Alar Kongats was a professor of mine for one of my studio classes, and it was a significant first step into the field of architecture. It was a small firm in Toronto and a great place to learn a little bit of everything. I gained a generalist mentality from the start and the attitude that all drawings, including technical ones, should be beautiful.
Sometime later, after I had spent five years with the talented team at Marmol Radziner and a short stint at Steven Ehrlich’s, I was ready to pivot. A friend was working at notNeutral, RIOS’ product company, and hinted at the multidisciplinary approach RIOS pioneered. Curiosity struck. I wanted to learn more about RIOS and what working at a multidisciplinary practice was like. I started at RIOS as a mid-level Designer. That was sixteen years ago.
At RIOS, what are you focused on these days?
Today, my Creative Director and Partner role focuses on leading our RIOS Home residential practice. While I have a versatile background in commercial, hospitality, and beyond, single-family residential projects are where my heart is. That said, within our RIOS-at-large design collective, I am fortunate to touch many projects of diverse typologies and scales. It is the joy of working at a multidisciplinary firm; the possibilities are infinite!
“I gained a generalist mentality from the start and the attitude that all drawings, including technical ones, should be beautiful.”
Looking back at it all, what have been the biggest challenges? How did you both manage through perceived disappointments or setbacks?
There have been many challenges along the way, but three that I often reflect upon are my self-perception, communication skills, and patience for a long runway. At times, my own self-perception has gotten in my way, and when I am not thinking about it, my best work happens. This comes from a background as a child of immigrants, where self-consciousness of reactions in the room made me hyperaware of how to fit in. This instinct to “do what people want” evolved to learning that what I now do is what people want and released me to explore freely and think inventively.
I have also learned how critical communication is and have embraced the failures of poor communication to create better future experiences. I was terribly shy when I was younger and I joined a profession where the value of communication and connection to other people was so powerful, it changed me. With experience, I have grown to appreciate the delicate balance of managing conflict with mutual respect and understanding that we all want the best of a situation. I learned to harness my empathy and build relationships that are successful for everyone.
And lastly, the notion of allowing yourself a long runway in a life of opportunities is so undervalued. You may be familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule, where he asserts that the key to achieving true expertise in any skill is a matter of practice for at least 10,000 hours. That hits close to home for me. I may think of myself as a slow build up kind of person, and once I hit my stride, I know I can do remarkable things, and with that, I know that I must plan accordingly and allow myself that length of runway, or time, for skill building and for building opportunities for the future.
The New Barn residential project designed by RIOS Home. Photo by John Ellis.
Self-reflection, Huay Wee at gallery Philia during 2023 Zona Maco, CDMX. Exhibition Antipodes, Artist: Andres Monnier. Photo courtesy of Huay Wee.
More reflections in stainless steel, art by Donald Judd, Chinati Foundation in Marfa Texas, 2002. Photo courtesy of Huay Wee.
What have you also learned in the last six months?
The last six months have been energizing. For context, I was appointed Creative Director and Partner at RIOS alongside three other talented and brilliant women. To be an extension of our dynamic and well-respected leadership team has been monumental.
In the last six months, I have been focused on establishing and building relationships from a business development standpoint and nurturing relationships beyond the day-to-day client management, which requires different approaches. On this note, relationship building is not something people need to wait to develop until they are in a senior leadership position. It is essential to empower your teams and teach the skillset of communication and building relationships early in a career because many of those relationships can last a lifetime.
I am also revisiting the curiosity and inner wallflower of my youth. People often overlook the value of observing, being a listener and not always a speaker. You do not need to be the most extroverted person to begin a conversation. I am reminded that making space for people to approach you, whether at events, within the workplace, or with clients, is valuable and attracts other types of people to engage with.
I work in business development by day at Ennead, and could not agree with your point about relationship building more. What are you most excited about right now?
Any time you step into a new role there is a world of possibility that opens. My sense of curiosity is at full speed, I have a rich desire to view things in an “everything is possible” way, and that is so invigorating when I think about the future of RIOS. We are in a transition of growth into international markets, with new offices in London, Singapore, and Shanghai. This transition period, which pushes us outside the comfort zone, is where novel ideas and surprising strategies thrive. As we expand globally, we are simultaneously focused on practicing hyperlocal design, bringing a sense of wonder, and always exploring the connection between architecture and landscape. I am thoroughly enjoying having the same conversation thread with new business relationships across multiple conversations in multiple cities as I look at how culture and connection is addressed in each new locale.
My early love of art has come full circle as I’ve added this interest into my current work with clients. I’ve been attending art fairs, making friends with gallery owners and advisors, joined the Cultivist art club, and I’ve been thrilled about finding opportunities to curate this additional design dimension into current work.
“Any time you step into a new role there is a world of possibility that opens...This transition period, which pushes us outside the comfort zone, is where novel ideas and surprising strategies thrive.”
Who are you admiring now and why?
I follow a podcast by Robert Glazer called “Elevate,” and his guest list is fantastic. I have his podcasts on repeat and his conversations and knowledge-sharing are always full of insight to improve teams and leaders. I am really impressed with his ability to curate ideas and synthesize them into applicable lessons.
I also admire Shonda Rhimes. In her book “Year of Yes,” she talks about how extremely introverted and shy she is, and she takes you on her journey about how saying yes to things for an entire year changed her life.
What is the impact you’d like to have on the world?
The most powerful architectural experiences are extremely emotional. My motivation is building connections with people. So, it would be wonderful if our work created spaces and places for people to enjoy with others for long after I am gone. It is a beautiful thought to be able to move people so emotionally with your designs that they remember the experience decades later.
What is your core mission?
Harmony. This is a focus I bring to relationships and to spaces I am charged to create. I’m a trust-based person. I’m motivated by relationships, and the most significant impact I can have is to bring harmony to relationships.
And, what does success in that look like to you?
Success is finding harmony in the experience. If I think of it through the lens of a project and the design process, it is not only looking at the outcome. It is looking all the way through the journey. From the beginning, the design process, the client relationship, the internal project team, the external stakeholders, and so on with everyone who is involved. I aspire to look at ways everyone on the team can win and have memorable, inspiring participation amongst the group. Even in dramatic moments, we can create a positive experience throughout the journey. Design is inherently an optimistic profession; it is good to be reminded of that.
Huay Wee in dialogue with her team at the RIOS headquarters in Leimert Park, Los Angeles. Courtesy of Huay Wee.
Huay sits with her team at RIOS’ pro-bono design project Harvest Home, a new facility in Los Angeles providing housing and educational programs for homeless expectant mothers and their children. Courtesy of Huay Wee.
Finally, what advice do you have for those starting their career? Would your advice be any different for women?
I recognize that I live in a privileged condition by living in North America. With that in mind, to the women around this world, be reassured that your differences are powerful. You do not have to be like someone else, and the magic is learning when your weaknesses can be your strengths, and to be authentically you, the career path is necessarily a different journey for each person. For those challenges ahead and to overcome them, be curious, ask questions, and listen. Participation and leadership can take place in a variety of forms, so look for your opportunities in small and big ways, from the sidelines or from the front, and as a student or a mentor. Have a mindset of abundance and share your understanding with others, so we can all lift each other up together!
The runway of opportunities that I mentioned earlier is also so important to me. In this design field, there is something to be said for how much time passes in a career. Start early in developing relationships — people may become teammates or even clients over time. Give yourself the time and speed you need to learn something, so have patience. Do not be afraid to be a wallflower; there may be another wallflower looking to talk to one too. You may be authentically you, but the most interesting things happen when you evolve over time, so make space and be open to change and to changing your mind.