Betty Ng founded the international architecture firm COLLECTIVE in 2015 and, together with her co-directors Chi Yan Chan (Gen T. HK 2021), Juan Minguez and Katja Lam, co-leads the offices in Hong Kong, with satellite offices in Madrid and London. Ng conceptualised COLLECTIVE as an architecture studio that “practices design as a methodology, instead of a style.” This approach has allowed her practice to create an exceptionally diverse portfolio—they pride themselves on avoiding repetitive aesthetic approaches, as every project in COLLECTIVE is a bespoke piece. There is also an academic aspect to Ng’s practice, “focusing not on the single named creator but a collective of critics”, heavily relying on the convergence of a “collective” of diverse minds with her team members.

Under Betty Ng’s leadership, COLLECTIVE has accumulated a broad portfolio of architecture, interiors, exhibitions and masterplan projects, including Valextra Honolulu, ONS New York, JOYCE Boutique Hong Kong, Agora Restaurant in Tai Kwun with restaurateur Yenn Wong, Penicillin Bar with mixologist Agung Prabowo, Determinant Boutique with Dee Poon and Esquel’s Integral Gallery in Guilin with Marjorie Yang. COLLECTIVE also designed the Nike Vapor Max launch installation at Art Central with Federico Tan.

Ng and COLLECTIVE have been working on is Christie’s new APAC Headquarters, spearheaded by Christie’s Asia Pacific president Francis Belin, inside The Henderson designed by Zaha Hadid, which is set for a 2024 opening. Also expected to open in 2024 are Adrian Cheng’s New World Development new commercial development Portas and a mirrored reflective outdoor garden space at 11 Skies.

Betty Ng is dedicated to arts and cultural development through design and education—she is in a teaching consortium with COLLECTIVE’s co-directors Minguez and Chan at Chinese University of Hong Kong, teaching master level architecture design and research studio. With COLLECTIVE, she has designed Art Intelligence Global Hong Kong's art gallery and office with co-founder Yuki Terase, and Para Site’s new exhibition space with executive director Billy Tang. COLLECTIVE’s dedication to arts and culture includes designing a large variety of museum exhibitions and biennales, including the 14th edition of Shanghai Biennale with chief curator Anton Vidokle; Tai Kwun’s Killing TV, M+ Museum’s Things, Spaces, Interactions; Taipei Biennale 2021’s New Diplomatic Encounters with artistic directors Bruno Latour and Martin Guinard; and Shanghai Project: Seeds of Time with artistic directors Hans Ulrich Obrist and Dr. Yong Woo Lee.

Ng is an adjunct associate professor at the School of Architecture at Chinese University of Hong Kong and has previously taught at the University of Hong Kong and the National University of Singapore. She is currently a committee member of the Royal Institute of British Architects HK Chapter, Board Director at Harvard Club Hong Kong, The Cornell Club of Hong Kong and a member of the International Women’s Forum. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Harvard University.