Projects

Looking at the spacious and well decked out Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) Tin Shui Wai Telebet Centre now, it may be tough to fathom that it used to be a car park. Located in the Hong Kong Housing Society building complex, the Centre was converted from three storeys of old car park space that totalled an area of 55,000 square feet. It hadn't been an easy task as the parking lot had a low headroom of 2.4 metres, and the Centre has to accommodate some 2,500 staff when completed (1,000 in phase 1), which meant that several building services would have to be incorporated while also making allowance for community and staff-centric elements in the redesign.

Using the allegory of urban design, the spatial arrangements within the Centre with hierarchical considerations were based on a 'city in a city' concept, where humanity/people is the primary concern. The designers converted a dead end space of the former car park into the entrance/reception lobby—the central gathering place or agora of the 'city'—that leads to a 'hall of fame' (showcasing HKJC's achievements) built upon the previous car ramp.

A modular furniture system was created to cater to the needs of the client, based on the constraints of the original space. Like toy building blocks, the interlocking modular system allows several units of 'dwelling' to 'stack up' across two levels to house the staff, offering greater spatial variety. Multiple modules form 'villages', which then accumulate to form a 'city'.

To read the complete article, get a copy of the 1Q 2010 edition at our online shop or at newsstands/major bookstores; or subscribe to FuturArc.

Table of Contents