Tszwai So

Tszwai So studied at University of Hong Kong and Wolfson College. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is architecture, architectural design and art of drawing. Places of work recorded in the authority are London. Works named in the authority record are Church of St Cyril of Turau and All the Patron Saints of the Belarusian People. Distinctions recorded are Civic Merit Medal of Belarus.

• Name — Tszwai So • Birthplace — Hong Kong • Education — University of Hong Kong, University of Cambridge • Awards — EU Mies van der Rohe Award Nominee (2019) World Architecture Festival Award (2018) RIBAJ EyeLine Award (2018) AIA UK Young Architect of the Year (2017) New London People’s Choice Award (2017) RIBA London Award (2017) RIBA Journal Rising Star Award Civic Merit Medal of Belarus (2025) and others • Practice — Spheron Architects • Significant Buildings — Belarusian Memorial Chapel • Website — www.spheronarchitects.co.uk

So grew up in British Hong Kong. He studied architecture at the University of Hong Kong, graduating in 2003 as the recipient of Ho Fook Prize in Architecture. He later moved to the United Kingdom and studied for a master's degree in Building History at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. In 2011, he co-founded Spheron Architects with Samuel Bentil-Mensah, based in London and Accra. Their clients include Birkbeck College, Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, Holy See of Rome, Queen Mary University of London and Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames.

In March 2018, an international jury had chosen So's anonymous entry entitled An Echo in Time as the winner of the EU-backed international competition for a proposal of the first ever pan-European memorial for all victims of the 20th century totalitarianism, to be built in Jean Rey Square in Brussels, Belgium. The jury included, among others, Norman Foster, Julie Beckman, László Tőkés and Tibor Navracsics. The competition was organized by the Platform of European Memory and Conscience.

In August 2018, the Belarusian state television reported that Tszwai So had been working with the Foundation for Jewish Heritage in the UK, and Natasha Kaplinsky's family, on a $6 million restoration project for the Slonim Synagogue built in the 17th century, in Slonim, Belarus, Kaplinsky's ancestral home.

In 2023-2024, Tszwai So authored the project of the reconstruction of The Blue hotel in Taipei, Taiwan. It is described as an example of Emotionalist architecture, inspired by the Belarus-based UNOVIS artist movement of the early 20th century.

Tszwai So is recorded as having received Civic Merit Medal of Belarus.

So's drawings stemmed from his prizewinning design of An Echo in Time were chosen as the First Prize Winner in the practitioners’ category from an entry of 1,000 images worldwide in the RIBA Journal International Drawing Competition, the Eye Line Award in 2018. His drawings were exhibited at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London from 29 August until 12 September 2018, then at RIBA North in Liverpool til 30 October.

So teaches at the University of Westminster. He is a trustee of Heritage Trust Network, a nationwide charity which helps to save the built heritage of the UK, jointly funded by Heritage Lottery Fund, the Architectural Heritage Fund, Historic England, National Trust for Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, Cadw, Pilgrim Trust and the Headley Trust. So is an authority on Belarusian Wooden Church Heritage and Victorian architecture by George Truefitt, and has published papers on both subjects in the RIBA Journal.