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Escape Hong Kong

Part 2 Project 2003
Tim Furzer
 Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) | UK
Politically contentious and strategically awkward, the Hong Kong harbour site required careful consideration.

The scheme reconciled the need for substantial accommodation housing a new Legislative Council Complex with the provision for the people of Hong Kong.

The approach was to create a perimeter structure housing the Government complex and acting as a giant filter/buffer from the city, the remaining space was transformed into a mysterious tranquil oasis.

The scheme tackled the anomaly of orchestrating a place of contemplation in the centre of a busy city.

The frenetic and tiring factors were transcended allowing an experience of retreat and enjoyment.


He has approached the development of a major waterfront site in Hong Kong with cool strategic thinking that embraces both the organisational complexity and the poetic interpretation equally.

The project is part retreat, part legislative building, part hotel, a political and hedonistic oasis in the heart of a major metropolitan city. If you look very closely even the filing system is designed.

The scheme is one of revelation and surprise, a complex that is packed with design incident - a sunken restaurant, sleekly moving external skins, picnic parks, water-filled entrances.

It is a 'tour de force' where as much is made of the detail as it is of the grand and elegant gesture.
2003
The scheme tackled a live competition to make a proposal for a new legislative council complex whilst addressing the qualitative needs of the individual experience of a hectic city. The scheme was political both in terms of function and location.
The site was both politically contentious and strategically awkward. Consideration was required for both the financially important harbour view of the surrounding buildings and the logistics of reuniting a road locked site with the rest of the city.
Through two abstract exercises speculating on urban ideology and personal space for reflection, the idea of creating a sublime tranquil retreat was explored. Time, choreography, and reconciliation of opposites informed the installations.
A time zone strategy was applied to the site to slow the perception of the passing of time. The possible functions that could constitute a tranquil retreat were grouped by time required and investigated through spatial collage and physical models.
A physical model at 1:500 scale explored the challenging task of articulating government facilities and public spaces. A perimeter structure was adopted to house the council offices creating a sheltered zone for the public to relax in.
Careful strategic planning was required for the vehicular access. The brief called for separate drop off points for VIP’s and regular visitors and provision for 500 cars. Subterranean roadways were developed to facilitate smooth entry and exit.
The pedestrian access involved negotiating a busy 6-lane highway and threading routes back into the rest of the city. Elevated moving walkways channelled people to a central entrance island.
At the heart of the legislative council complex was the debating chamber. Central to the design was proximity to the council offices and a special entry route for the CEO from his private offices located on the top floor of the scheme.
For the ultimate relaxation or retreat experience accommodation was provided for visitors to stay overnight. The capsules were suspended above the synthetic sea that could be directly accessed from balcony ladders.
Part of the public retreat facilities included an artificial beach and synthetic sea. The sand was divided into colour zones imported from many places in china. Shaded walkways cut through the beach and led to subterranean cafes and restaurants.
In a sunken garden underneath the main government building were hidden meditation chambers. Quiet zones of contemplation were created and accessed by responsive chilled pathways.
A fundamental consideration was the difficult edge condition between the harsh conditions of the busy highway and the skin of the proposed building. The retreat required the building to act as a buffer/filter from the chaotic city.
The government complex could be seen as a giant inhabited wall that manipulated the sense of transition from the maelstrom of the urban experience to the new secret oasis of rest and calm.
Hong Kong is a city where one is constantly looking up at or down from buildings. The relationship between knitting the scheme into and announcing itself as detached from the vertical landscape was speculated upon.
A critique on the lifestyles on the inhabitants of Hong Kong was performed. As a result tranquil zones were woven into the landscape where one could experience a sense of both detachment from and connection to the wider urban context.
The project attempted a reconciliation between the complex demographics of one of the world’s wealthiest commercial centres and the everyday needs of the individual surviving in a demanding and pressurised set of circumstances.
Useful to the design process was a physical model constructed in many detachable elements. The model became a tool of spatial understanding being altered and changed throughout the execution of the scheme.
The salient issues regarding the design of a tranquil space were concluded to be; climate, noise, visual busyness, feeling of embrace, delicacy of materials, variety over time and partial connection.
It was imperative to explore the usage of the proposed development at all hours of the day. The night time transformation of the complex ensured provision for relaxation by a wide variety of Hong Kong residents.
The scheme addressed the paradox of its context both physical and political. Tranquillity was interpreted not as a fixed condition but a sensation in a state of flux, different for each visitor.
• Page Hits: 13655         • Entry Date: 10 September 2003         • Last Update: 10 June 2022