Lead Interior Designer
BA, Dip
London, UK
Sonia Renehan
Photograph by Frederic Aranda ©
Photograph by Virgile Simon Bertrand
Hong Kong : 27 February - 5 April 2008
Sonia first joined ZHA in 2017 and later rejoined in 2021. Collaborating with both project teams and the interior team, she contributes to a variety of interior projects. Her key contributions include the interior design of Opus in Dubai, Tower C at Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters Base, and International Gateway Centre in Hong Kong.
Sonia’s responsibilities cover all aspects of interior design, from delivering design packages and presenting material palettes to clients to on-site construction supervision and curating exhibitions. Skilled in working with tangible materials, she efficiently and effectively translates client visions into innovative design concepts and solutions. Beyond her project work, she is dedicated to mentoring disadvantaged young people through Future Frontiers, offering professional guidance and career development support.
Prior to joining ZHA, Sonia worked with design practices in Dublin and London, including Conran and Partners, Scott Brownrigg Architects, and Blacksheep, where she gained a broad experience from design to construction phases.
Photograph by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Featured Project
Home to the new ME Dubai hotel, the Opus is located in the Burj Khalifa district adjacent to Downtown Dubai and Business Bay on the Dubai Water Canal. Exploring the balance between solid and void, opaque and transparent, interior and exterior, the Opus was designed as two separate towers that coalesce into a singular whole—taking the form of a cube.
Render by Proloog
Sonia holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Interior Architecture from the Technological University of Dublin and a Diploma with Honours in Project Management from the Dublin Business School.
Born in Dublin, Sonia is influenced by Ireland’s cultural identity and is fascinated by how design evolves to reflect different societal concerns and creative visions over time.
Projects
Explore a selection of projects Sonia has contributed to since joining ZHA.
Photograph by Laurian Ghinitoiu
Mixed Use
Offices
Home to the new ME Dubai hotel, the Opus is located in the Burj Khalifa district adjacent to Downtown Dubai and Business Bay on the Dubai Water Canal. Exploring the balance between solid and void, opaque and transparent, interior and exterior, the design was presented by ZHA in 2007. It is the only hotel in which the firm designed both the architecture and the interiors to such an intricate degree, including bathrooms and furniture within the scope.
Culture
Located on a narrow strait, separating continental Italy from Sicily, the Regium Waterfront marks the city of Reggio Calabria as a Mediterranean cultural capital. Drawing inspiration from the radial symmetry of the starfish, the structure, housing museum and performing arts centre, stands as a beacon visible from land and sea.
Render by Negativ
Offices
The new Taikang Financial Centre will be a centre of excellence, developing effective systems and networks that will provide a new ecosystem of support for people of all ages across China. Using the new technologies developed within the Taikang Financial Centre, the group will continue its commitment to supporting community development, healthcare, education and well-being throughout the country.
Courtesy of Brick Visual
Offices
Tall Buildings
The design of Tower C integrates the city and nature within its central green axis with the transit orientated development (TOD) of Shenzhen’s new spine, creating a ‘superscape’ that will become a tower of the future within the Super Headquarters Base.
Photograph by Virgile Simon Bertrand
Hong Kong : 27 February - 5 April 2008
Installations + Pavilions
A unique sculptural pavilion created as an exhibition/event space for Chanel – inspired by the brand’s distinctive layering of exquisite details within an elegant, cohesive whole – created as a series of continuous arches, sequencing towards a central courtyard – the entire structure ‘flooded’ by through translucent walls and ceilings.
Render by Hayes Davidson
Mixed Use
Offices
Adjacent to the West Kowloon Cultural District, the 3.2 million sq. ft. development above Hong Kong’s High Speed Rail West Kowloon Terminus connects established and emerging neighbourhoods with a network of public gardens and landscaped plazas.
Render by DAMAC
Sales Launch January 2025 100% DD
Residential
Situated on the beach at Surfside, The Delmore’s design is defined by its location and environment. ZHA’s detailed analysis of the oceanfront site mapped fluctuations in solar radiation, temperature, humidity, prevailing winds, air quality, rainfall, in addition to the variable ground and sea conditions throughout every day of the year.
Render by Negativ
Hospitality
NOT A HOTEL has launched its first hotel brands: HERITAGE by NOT A HOTEL reinterprets architectural heritage, such as temples and museums, through a contemporary sensibility. vertex by NOT A HOTEL embodies design at the intersection of architecture and technology.
Render by Atchain
Culture
Mixed Use
A place of convergence and collaboration, the Yidan Center will be home to the Chen Yidan Foundation in its work to promote lifelong learning and innovation in education.
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