Prompted by an open competition to design a new school of architecture for the Chinese University of Hong Kong, these proposals provide accommodation for a diverse range of facilities including studios and crit spaces, teaching and lecture rooms, a library, administrative offices, workshops for model-making and other activities and social facilities.
The building is located on a prominent site at the entrance to the university campus, and has been conceived as helping to define a new gateway to the campus, with the structure stepping back to create a generous, partially-shaded public space at the south-eastern corner of the site which enhances a sense of arrival. In keeping with its function as a school of architecture, the building is designed to clearly express the variety of different activities it houses, resulting in a highly legible structure which showcases the activity taking place within.
A full-height atrium along the public, street-side elevation of the building reveals the inner workings of the building, where functions such as lecture rooms, workshops and offices are contained within the stack of primary accommodation while the series of yellow 'trays' slotted into the structure project out into the atrium to provide open studio spaces and areas for crits and displays.
Open staircases ensure that all circulation is clearly legible and bring additional animation to the interior.The canopy is expressed as a separate element that wraps the structure to provide shading and assist a highly efficient environmental strategy. The double-skinned screen draws air into the building at the lower levels and acts as a thermal flue, pulling stale air from occupied spaces and expelling it at roof level, with air movement assisted by a photovoltaic-powered fan system.
