Miller came to Hong Kong in 1987, after 3 years of Hotel Design work at Welton Becket and BBG in New York. He joined a local owner / developer, Prudential Hotel Ltd, PHL, who was just starting the 2nd phase of a Retail / Hotel project in Hong Kong. PHL had worked with local HK architect, Rocco Design Associates on the phase 1 retail podium, and they continued work on the phase 2 hotel tower to be built on top of the podium.

PHL hired Miller to act as the in-house design manager to help assemble the balance of the design team, and manage that team to ensure that the owner’s requirements and expectations were met. Sam Tak Lee, the principal owner, has an engineering background, and a great interest in the technical details of construction. Miller was responsible for translating the owner’s detail brief to the design team, and seeing that sufficient details were developed to achieve that.

This included a sophisticated flush facade of glass and granite (with oversized pieces as large as 1.8m x 1.8m), and a set of exterior glass “bubble lifts”, designed with curved glass, and specified to withstand typhoon winds. The process involved visiting suppliers and manufacturers in Europe and coordinating engineering and architectural details with design consultants both in Europe and in Hong Kong.

Design works carried on throughout 1987 and 1988. As the designs were completed, and Miller’s role completed, the building went into construction. Miller moved to work in a Hong Kong-based international hotel company, and the Prudential Hotel successfully opened in 1990.