H Queen’s is Hong Kong’s first purpose built gallery and lifestyle building. Photo courtesy of H Queen’s.

David Zwirner has confirmed plans to launch a new gallery space in Hong Kong, which will span two floors in the city’s new H Queen’s building, due to open in the fall of 2017.

“We have seen literally explosive growth in the interest for Western art among Asian collectors,” David Zwirner told the New York Times. “About two years ago, I had this moment, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, if this is how people are learning and engaging, then we’ve got to have a gallery in the region,’ ” he added.

The gallery team announced they were searching for space in Hong Kong in January of this year. Zwirner apparently considered other cities in the region, such as Beijing and Shanghai, but in the end there was no competition for Hong Kong due to its European connections and wealth of collectors.

David Zwirner Hong Kong will occupy the 5th and 6th floors of H Queens. Photo courtesy of H Queen’s

“I love the European strain in Hong Kong,” Zwirner told the NYT. “There are still so many parallels to the way businesses are done in Britain in Hong Kong, and I can relate to that […]. More importantly, it’s a hub now for Asian collectors and curators.”

David Zwirner. Photo Dirk Eusterbrock, courtesy of David Zwiner.

The gallery has been designed by Annabelle Selldorf, the architect responsible for Zwirner’s whopping 30,000 square feet New York gallery space. It will occupy the 5th and 6th floors of H Queen’s—currently still under construction—and span just under 10,000 square feet.

H Queen’s—billed as a gallery and lifestyle building—has been designed by Hong Kong architect and collector William Lim and will boast a lofty ceiling height of 4.65 meters and a crane with the capacity to lift up to 1.25 tons of artwork to any of its 24 floors.