Interior designer Ivan Dai is a partner of LRF Designers, and was Chairman of the Hong Kong Interior Design Association from 1998 to 2000. His favourite space in Hong Kong is the Jumbo Floating Restaurant - virtually everyone growing up in colonial Hong Kong went there with friends, family and overseas visitors, for business and for pleasure and for a unique experience from the moment they boarded the sampan that ferried them through the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter. Dai doesn’t even like the palatial decor or the clichéd replica of the imperial throne, but has so many happy memories, and that is why he loves it.
Having qualified at the Swire School of Design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1977, Dai started off working in a multidisciplinary architectural practice, primarily involved with interior design projects, and then founded LRF Designers. He became a member, then fellow in 1994, of the Chartered Society of Designers and continues to play an active role in design education. Dai was Chairman of the Hong Kong Interior Design Association from 1998 to 2000, and his experience in five-star hotel sound project management, contract administration and financial control is largely responsible for LRF Designers Ltd’s track record. He was appointed a specialist by the HKCAAVQ in 2001, 2008, 2011 and 2015-2018, and has been Vice Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Hotel Design Association since 2010.