Robert A.M. Stern Architects has promoted to partner an executive who has designed high-profile multifamily projects across the country and abroad as well as overseen the firm's expansion in Asia as billings in the United States have declined.

The firm, known as RAMSA, said it elevated Chen-Huan Liao to its partnership team because of his design acumen and innovation across the United States and the "pivotal role" he has played in growing the firm's presence in Asia. Liao works in the company's Manhattan headquarters.

In his new position, Liao will continue to oversee the firm’s growing body of work in Asia, "where he has been instrumental in securing and executing large-scale multifamily and mixed-use master planning and architectural projects," RAMSA said.

His promotion comes as RAMSA joins other U.S. architecture and design firms in looking abroad for more business. RAMSA is expanding in Asia as architectural billings have declined in the U.S.

In August, industry-wide billings from architects and designers sent to clients declined to 45.7, according to a monthly index of invoices compiled by the American Institute of Architects and the software company Deltek.

Scores higher than 50 on the AIA-Deltek index mean there was a monthly increase in billings. In July, billings reached a score of 50, a number that equated to no change from the previous month, according to the AIA-Deltek index.

In April, the AIA and Deltek said its survey showed a "slight uptick in firms pursuing international projects." For the firms that worked on international projects over the past five years, the most popular regions have been Canada, Western Europe, Central America and the Caribbean, China and East Asia and the Pacific.

Overall, 9% of firm leaders who responded to the AIA-Deltek survey said their companies currently had billings from international projects, an increase from 8% of respondents who said they had such billings in August 2023. In February 2023, 7% of architecture firm leaders said their firms had international billings.

The firms that reported international billings said those projects accounted for an average of 9.1% of their gross billings over the past year, according to AIA and Deltek.

At RAMSA, Liao, who has experience in planning and designing multifamily developments, works on projects across the U.S. and Asia. Some of the high-profile projects he has worked on include One Museum Mile, a cultural and residential mixed-use development in New York City that is home to the Museum for African Art, and Xin Yi Tower, a 22-story residential building with Italianate gardens that was the firm's first project in his hometown of Taipei, Taiwan.

He also has been involved in RAMSA-designed projects in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Chongqing in China.

Liao's "ability to navigate and harmonize diverse cultural contexts has been a key factor in our firm’s success," RAMSA partner Dan Lobitz said in a statement.

Liao is working on residential developments in Asia, including Lakeville V, an upscale multifamily development in a residential district in Shanghai.

“Throughout my career, I have always believed that it is crucial to build consensus around design solutions that are both innovative and culturally authentic,” Liao said in a statement. “My experiences in both New York and Asia have given me a vibrant and authentic perspective."