Research highlights 1) This research critically analyses different firms’ design strategies regarding interface and the new social and spatial dynamics they have been bringing to the city. 2) This research investigates how the educational, social, and cultural differences embedded in Chinese and Western architects have created subtle differences in their understanding and interface strategies towards publicness of space. 3) This research highlights multiple approaches to interface intention in China’s urban regeneration and their various impacts on the adaptability of building for new social activities.