Rocco Design Architects have released renderings of their 26,500 sq m new campus development for Chu Hai College of Higher Education in Hong Kong. The scheme is due to begin onsite on 26 June 2014 with completion expected in 2016.
The nearby coast has played a prime role in the development of Rocco Design Architects’ concept with every effort made to frame views towards this magnificent view. A turfed green lawn at the centre of the campus slopes down towards the sea and provides a welcoming spot for students to gather socially or for informal lectures and performances.
The arrangement of volumes has been moulded by restrictions in the brief which states that the campus footprint must align with 'that of the existing foundations to minimise unnecessary modification to the foundations’.
As a result, the design team has proposed an unusual form with skybridges and dramatically angled projections. The larger volumes such as classrooms and libraries are housed in projecting volumes which branch out from the main bulk of the building, whilst the student union and main library are modeled as bridges, connecting the east and west slab blocks.
Connections between the various elements of the campus are organised as a ‘3-dimensional street network’, raised into the air and highly glazed. Chu Hai College of Higher Education is viewed as a ‘miniature city’ in its own right, its various programmes stacked vertically to maximise density.
Rocco Design Architects comment: “The elevation of the building reflects an authentic expression of its complex section. Formally, the cantilevers and bridges extending from the slab blocks resemble the image of a tree crown and symbolise the primitive learning space under the shade of the green canopy. Its composition and construction also resemble the inherent spirit of Chinese Calligraphy, namely the beautiful balance of solid and void in the elevation.”
