CONVERSATION WEAVE THE FUTURE
The enigmatic founder and Group CEO of Weave Living, Sachin Doshi, chats to Home Journal at the grand opening of Weave Suites, and shares the evolution and future of his niche brand
Weave Living founder and group CEO Sachin Doshi shares the evolution and future of his niche brand與Weave Living創辦人及行政總裁Sachin Doshi深度訪談
Weave Living創辦人及行政總裁Sachin Doshi在Weave Suites的開幕禮上，分享對品牌將來的演變和未來發展的看法
Tell us what a typical day for you is like, and perhaps how this has changed in the past few years?
I’ll start with when I first started the company. This was in 2017 July, just under four years ago, and there was only four of us, so it was truly a start-up. It was really interesting because we did everything, whether it was finding the right property to acquire, raising capital, doing the design, preparing for operations, managing renovations and the leasing – we all tried to contribute in whatever we felt the company needed at the time.
So it was all a bit crazy and our concept was a relatively new one – no one was doing rental housing the way we wanted to do. And when we grew to around seven to eight people, we opened our first property in Prince Edward. I still remember this day - we were all hands on, making sure there was toilet paper in the bathrooms, soap in the dispensers, batteries in the machinery etc. Fast forward to now, we have grown to 50 people in the company and we have a lot of great talent to help with very specialized roles, But we still hold on to a very entrepreneurial mindset.
For me, that sense of wonder is still there. I spend a lot of the time on the design and the look and feel of the properties, making sure the user experience is good from a physical space standpoint, I spend a lot of time talking to investors as well – we are very fortunate to have a big investor who supports us.
I speak a lot with the internal teams - whether it’s the marketing campaigns we have, or spend time walking the streets of the locations we buy in. At heart I love real estate, so walking around a neighbourhood and envisioning how we can change it is really fun to me.
For the most recent addition to Weave Living’s portfolio – Weave Suites – the concept is quite different. Can you elaborate?
This concept really came from our clients. When we were speaking with some corporates and some B to B clients, they shared they really liked the community element and the shared spaces but they felt that for their middle management (perhaps coming to the city and staying for six to nine months), they wanted to deliver a slightly more elevated experience. It wasn’t so much about the offering itself but more about the space. We felt we had the ability to create spaces where one could interact with others more easily. So we sat back and thought, are we going too much into the serviced apartment category?
We very quickly found out we weren’t as most serviced apartments are all about bigger residences but you don’t really get to know your neighbours or have that ability to create social interactions. We wanted to create our own take on serviced apartments. Weave Suites came about as really responding to what the market was asking us. The response we’ve had so far has been really fantastic. Prior to opening, we already sold all of our big suites and the feedback we’ve received overall has been really encouraging.
你每天的工作流程是怎樣？在過去幾年有出現變化嗎？
我在2017年7月創立公司。當時我們只有四個人，是真正的初創企業。那時真的很有趣，因為無論是尋找合適的房產收購，還是籌集資金、設計、準備運營，或是管理裝修和租賃事宜，我們都親力親為，施展渾身解數，希望可以為公司作出貢獻。
那時候有點瘋狂。我們當時的概念相對較新，以前從來沒有人以我們的方式出租物業。當公司規模發展到大約七到八位員工時，我們首個房地產項目在太子開幕。我仍然記得那一天：大家都在親力親為，確保洗手間內有廁紙、皂液器裡有肥皂、不同電器裡有電池等等。現在，我們的公司已經擴展至50人的規模，當中有很多優秀的人才，但我們仍然時刻保持著一個創業的心態。
我仍然對事物感到好奇。我花了很多時間在設計，和感受房產外觀，以確保良好的住客體驗；我也花了很多時間和投資者建立關係，同時非常感恩，有一個大投資者在背後支持我們。
我經常和團隊交流 — 不論是營銷活動，還是花時間走訪我們房產位處的周邊環境。我打從內心喜歡房地產，所以在一個街區走走，想像我們可以如何改變它，對我來說真的很有趣。
How involved are you with the design concept of Weave Suites?
I was heavily involved – I’m very picky when it comes to design. Good design is not enough; you have to be able to operate it in a certain way and you have to create spaces where people feel comfortable to meet and get together. I think design is an important component but it’s how you program the space – what goes next to what, what is the height of the seating, the depth of the drawers - all these things are essential to the user experience.
Why did you choose this area, Sai Ying Pun, for this offering?
The location is a key aspect to all our properties. Sai Ying Pun is a very hip area, a great amalgamation of the old and the new. If you go left, it’s Hollywood Road, and if you go right, it’s the dried seafood shops. I think it’s a really interesting place, and it’s also boasts a concentration of the best coffee in Hong Kong.
We want our residents to enjoy and experience (not just go back to a place where you eat and sleep and cook and clean). How do you interact with the wider neighbourhood and also your immediate neighbourhood? I’ve lived in Hong Kong for 15 years now and I’ve never really known my neighbours – there’s a certain degree of anonymity. But if you think about how Hong Kong used to be – people moving in and out of each other’s houses, borrowing things and interacting more broadly, we wanted to bring some of those elements back to how we do things.
Tell us about the role of the lifestyle ambassadors in Weave Suites?
The job of our lifestyle ambassadors is really, to create avenues for people to interact with each other. We don’t want to force the curation of a community - our ambassadors’ job is to know our residents, but also know the city and the neighbourhood. So whether it’s making a restaurant booking or recommending the best cocktail at a particular bar, they’ll have this intimate knowledge. We also host events which are optional – like I said, we do not want to force interaction – but we want to create that avenue so residents know these are available to them.
對於Weave Living的最新項目Weave Suites，兩者概念是相當不同的。你
能解釋一下嗎？
這個概念源於我們的客人。當我們和一些企業和B2B客戶交談時，他們都表示非常喜歡社區元素和共享空間這個概念。但他們認為，對於那些在香港逗留6至9個月的中層管理人員，他們希望得到一個更優質的居住體驗。這並不是服務的問題，而是關於空間。我們有能力創造一個促進互動的空間，所以我們退後一步思考：我們是否太專注於服務式公寓這一範疇？
我們很快便發現我們並沒有違背初衷，因為大多數服務式住宅都注重面積，卻缺乏讓住客認識鄰居的機會，或是缺乏促進社會互動的能力。我們希望以自己的方式經營服務式住宅。Weave Suites的出現，回應了市場的需求。直至目前為止，我們得到的反應都很正面。在開業之前，我們已經售出所有的大型套房，而且我們收到的反饋意見，在總體上十分令人鼓舞。
你在多大程度上參與Weave Suites設計理念的工作？
我參與了很多。我在設計方面非常挑剔，單是好的設計並不足夠，你必須能夠提供一個讓住客與親友聚會的空間。我認為設計是整個項目中一個相當重要的部分，但如何巧妙安排空間，例如傢具擺位、座位高度、抽屜的深度等，才是對用戶體驗至關重要的因素。
為什麼選擇西營盤這一地點？
位置是我們所有房產的一個關鍵。西營盤是一個非常時尚的地區，體現新舊事物的完美結合。向左走，就是荷里活路；向右走，就看到海味舖。我認為這是一個非常有趣的地區， 更何況它還是香港的咖啡集中地。
我們希望住戶能夠好好享受住宿體驗（而不只是當房間是一個吃飯、睡覺、做飯和打掃的地方）。如何與社區和鄰居交流？我在香港已經居住15年了，但從來沒有真正認識過身邊的鄰居。我希望把香港過去的樣子—鄰居們在彼此家中出出入入、借東西等交流互動 — 帶到Weave Suites中。
Weave Suites生活大使的職責是什麼？
我們的生活大使的實質工作是為住客創造相互交流的渠道，而非強迫大家互動。生活大使會了解住戶，同時也了解這個城市和社區。無論是預訂餐廳，還是推薦某家酒吧的雞尾酒，他們都十分清楚。這些活動都是自由參與，正如我之前所說，我們不想強迫大家互動，而希望創造多一種途徑，給住客多一個選擇。
Was the concept of Weave drawn from your personal experiences?
There’s a deeply personal reason why I started this company. To me I’ve now lived in four different cities, and every time I’ve moved cities, two of the hardest things are figuring out where to live, and building a social network. For Weave, I wanted to build a trusted company where when people choose our properties, they know they can trust the standard and consistency – it’s in a good locale, it’s safe and well designed.
I still remember moving to Australia from India when I was 17, and feeling really lonely in the beginning. But the friends I met in university are still some of my closest friends to this day, who have really shaped me in a significant way. I’ve really benefitted from these friendships and connections, and I feel there’s no better way to build connections than someone you live with. So I wanted to combine those two aspects from my personal experience.
What’s next for the company?
We’re coming up with another exciting residential offering that’s going to be different from what we’ve done before, and this will cater to people who want a more traditional living experience plus all the benefits of being part of the Weave platform. The plan for opening is mid 2021, and that really completes our suite of products.
Hong Kong as a market will continue to be a big focus but we announced last year that we will also be entering Singapore. We think that what we offer is something that works in all the major cities, but we want to grow slowly and strategically as we want the quality of our growth to be good. In Hong Kong, we are looking at a few different schemes to expand the offerings in this city. Housing here is so expensive and it’s not getting any cheaper. As a global city that attracts international talent, I think we’re also contributing to the city’s success by creating accommodation that meets global standards.
你的個人經歷如何啟發Weave的概念？
我創立這家公司，背後有一個很深的個人原因。我曾經住在四個不同的城市。對我來說，每次搬家最困難的事情有兩件：一是找到適合的住所；二是建立一個交際圈。成立Weave的其中一個原因，是希望建立一個值得信賴的公司。當大家選擇我們的物業時，會信任我們的標準和一致性：我們的物業地點優越、安全，以及具有優良設計。
我還記得17歲從印度搬到澳洲時，一開始感到非常孤獨，但在大學時期結交的朋友，至今仍是我最親密的朋友。他們在很大程度上塑造了現在的我，這些友誼對我受益匪淺。我認為沒有一個更好的方式和你身邊的人建立關繫，所以我想從自身經驗出發，把這兩方面結合起來。
公司的未來發展方向是什麼？
我們將會推出另一個令人震奮的住宅項目，與我們之前的項目迴然不同。這個項目特別為渴望傳統生活的人士而設，計劃在2021年中開業，並將完善我們的產品系列。
香港仍然是我們主打的焦點市場，但我們去年也宣佈即將打入新加坡市場。我們相信，公司所提供的服務在所有主要城市都適用，同時希望公司業務可以穩步上揚。我們正考慮在香港發展一些不同的項目。香港的房價實在太高，而且沒有下調跡象。作為一個吸引全球人才的國際城市，我認為我們創造了符合全球標準的住宿條件，為這個城市作出貢獻。