Family and early life
Cecil Chao Sze-Tsung was born in Shanghai in 1936 to Chao Tsong-yea 趙從衍 and Nyi Ya-tsung 倪亞震, the founders of Wah Kwong Shipping. The family later moved to Hong Kong. As a boy he was strong at both mathematics and the arts. Asthma in early childhood led his mother to start him swimming, and he went on to swim butterfly for Hong Kong and play basketball for most of his life.
Education
He read architecture at King's College, Newcastle, then part of Durham University. The college became Newcastle University in 1963. He graduated with an honours degree in architecture.
He is a Registered Architect with the Hong Kong Architects Registration Board, a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects. Morrison University in the United States awarded him an honorary doctorate.
Working life
He returned to Hong Kong and joined the Government's Public Works Department in 1962, working in the Buildings Office. He opened his own architectural practice, later Cecil Chao & Associates, in 1964, and Cheuk Nang (Holdings) Limited in 1988. See Career.
In his words
"Every project is a canvas for improving lives. If it cannot uplift, it is not worth building."