Public Housing, Hong Kong

Conversion of Chai Wan Factory Estate to Public Rental Housing

An Adaptive Reuse of Heritage

The historical Chai Wan Factory Estate (CWFE), which was granted Grade II Historic Building status by the Antiquities Advisory Board, was converted into Wah Ha Estate. The conversion was announced in 2012 to increase and expedite the short-term public housing supply, and it was completed in June 2016, providing 187 flats on five domestic storeys.

Conserving Heritage

CWFE was constructed in June 1959. It is the last H-shaped factory building in Hong Kong, with an area of 0.4 hectares, located in close proximity to the MTR station. With the purpose of enhancing public awareness of heritage conservation and sustainable housing development, the existing industrial building was retained for adaptive redevelopment.

ZIS: Vegetation without Potable Water

Fresh clean water is a limited and precious resource. To enhance the sustainability of its developments, the HA has in recent years launched initiatives for cutting down its water usage and reusing or recycling water where possible. One focal area has been the use of water in landscape irrigation. Trees, shrubs and vegetation need water to flourish. The HA has been working on a pioneering method of irrigation known as the Zero Irrigation System (ZIS) for use in its new public housing projects, designed to avoid the need to use any potable water for irrigation.

ZIS is a sub-irrigation method, meaning that water is delivered to the plant root zone from below the soil surface and absorbed upwards. This passive design system removes the need for any external irrigation sources apart from the most natural and sustainable one—rain.

PROJECT DATA