COLLECTIVE Studio’s Parametric Design and Public Programming Turn Commercial Podium Into Community Asset

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In Lai Chi Kok’s dense industrial district, next to a major highway, a pixelated landscape cascades from second floor to ground level in 1,125mm squares—each dimensioned for single-person occupation while allowing collective gathering at scale. This isn’t decorative geometry. The parametric design creates a three-dimensional public plaza that winds rhythmically through the podium of 83 King Lam Street, connecting 31,000 square feet of outdoor space with flexible auditoriums below and F&B outlets at street level.

The jury recognized this integration as ‘a new trend in Hong Kong…where people are treating the ground level and bottom parts of towers as public open space for the community.’ Earning AIA Hong Kong’s 2025 Honor Award (Architecture) in the Open International category and a Sustainability Award, COLLECTIVE Studio’s design demonstrates how privately owned commercial developments can deliver genuine community infrastructure through thoughtful programming and parametric precision.

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Challenging Context, Collaborative Response

Lai Chi Kok presents design challenges that many Hong Kong districts share: extreme density, lack of open space, a legacy of industrial land use, and intensive vehicular traffic. The site sits between the dense cityscape to the south and the rising green hillside of Kam Shan Country Park to the north, adjacent to a major highway. The jury noted this “challenging industrial warehouse area next to highway” as key context for evaluating the project’s achievements.

The client brief called for a podium that would serve twin office towers while creating new community amenities for a district where most office developments lack open space or public programming. The design team, led by COLLECTIVE Studio for podium architecture, landscape, interiors, and auditoriums, worked with Rocco Design Architects as lead architect for the twin towers. As one juror observed, the “lead architect welcomed a young architecture firm to design the public space—demonstrating professional generosity” in a cross-generational collaboration, put together by the client, between a long-established Hong Kong firm and a 10-year-old international studio based in Hong Kong.

The architectural challenge: How do you create usable, comfortable outdoor public space in an intensive urban condition while meeting commercial imperatives?

Design Strategy: The Cascading Public Plaza

The project’s centerpiece is a parametric pixelated landscape that cascades from the second floor to ground level, creating a three-dimensional public plaza that winds rhythmically up and down, left and right, connecting each level with gentle curves. This isn’t decorative geometry. Each pixel measures 1,120mm square, dimensioned precisely for single-person occupation while allowing collective gathering at larger scales.

Four integrated program components work together:

• • Three-dimensional public plaza: The cascading outdoor steps create varying heights as landscape of stairs, seats, and planters, visually extending the rising lush green mountain backdrop of Kam Shan Country Park into the urban fabric.
  • Flexible auditorium spaces below: Two connected auditoriums (16,000 sq ft total, 300-seat capacity) sit beneath the public steps, offering rentable community amenities. The upper auditorium features retractable seating that transforms the space from event venue to open multipurpose room. An automated 24-seat conference table rises from a floor recess for meetings. The stepped ceiling geometry mirrors the pixelated public plaza above, creating architectural continuity between exterior and interior.
  • Tower lobby entrances: Two main office entrances provide seamless access to the twin towers.
  • Food & beverage outlets: Small-scale F&B tenants (including NOC, GANTO GELATO, and LY Bakery) activate the ground plane, drawing public use while creating commercial synergy between plaza visitors and retail customers.

The twin towers themselves play a critical role in podium performance: Their placement maximizes self-shading over the public plaza, extending the usable period for outdoor gathering in Hong Kong’s subtropical climate.

Performance: Comfort, Water, and Resources

Creating Outdoor Comfort

Wind tunnel testing confirmed that the public plaza allows cross-ventilated air movement, enhancing outdoor experience in a climate where many public spaces remain empty due to heat and humidity. The twin towers’ shading strategy, combined with natural ventilation, creates a comfortable setting surrounded by greenery and expansive views in what’s otherwise a dense commercial and industrial area. Granite was selected for the public plaza for its durability and haptic quality, prioritizing human touch and long-term performance.

The landscape strategy treats biodiversity and air quality as design priorities. Diverse tropical species enrich the podium landscape with seasonal variation. Air-purifying plant species including dracaena, snake plant, and lady palm improve air quality. Native trees are retained and planted to enhance ecological value, creating an “urban oasis” with strong setback that enhances the streetscape.

Water Conservation

The project achieves documented water savings across multiple systems:

• Fresh water savings: 38.6%
• Flush water savings: 49.5%
• Irrigation water savings: 51%

These results come from integrated strategies including native plant species adapted to local climate, low-flow water fixtures throughout, and sea-water flushing systems. The building earned BEAM Plus NB V1.2 Provisional Gold and LEED Gold certifications, reflecting comprehensive environmental performance beyond the podium design alone.

Resource Management Through Construction

While the podium’s operational strategies focus on water and landscape, significant resource thinking occurred during construction. Comprehensive pre-development site soil remediation addressed contamination from the site’s industrial history. Digital paperless construction management using an electronic document system saved over 2,670 kg of paper from project commencement.

Construction waste diversion reached notable levels: Over 190,000 tons of excavated soil (99.5% of total construction and demolition waste) was diverted to public fill or transferred to other project sites for reuse. Over 20 tons of remediated soil was reused for on-site backfilling. Over 550 tons of metal (84% of total non-excavated waste) was recycled.

Applying the Framework for Design Excellence

Viewed through the AIA Framework for Design Excellence, 83 King Lam Street demonstrates how integrated thinking across multiple principles creates value that exceeds any single design objective.

Design for Equitable Communities drives the entire project concept. In a district where most office developments lack amenities and open space, the project provides free outdoor space, walkable human-scaled areas for well-being, and rentable meeting facilities that serve the broader Lai Chi Kok community. The design balances commercial interests and community interests, creating what the jury recognized as exemplifying substantive equality in the use of open space.

Design for Integration operates at multiple scales. Socially, the project offers free outdoor space. Commercially, it enables small F&B outlets to operate profitably. Economically, it provides landlords with rentable amenities while operating a public space where F&B customers and office workers mingle. Functionally, it connects the twin towers seamlessly. The parametric curved geometry extends from exterior public steps to interior auditorium ceiling, creating continuous architectural language across program boundaries.

Design for Ecosystems transforms challenging urban context into opportunity. The pixelated landscape promotes airflow and ventilation along the public space, supporting both human comfort and plant growth. The design extends the existing hillside backdrop into the city, creating ecological and visual continuity between Kam Shan Country Park and the dense commercial district.

Design for Well-Being and Design for Water work together to create outdoor space that’s actually used. Shading, cross-ventilation, durable tactile materials, and views to greenery make the plaza comfortable. Water conservation through native planting and efficient fixtures reduces operational demand while maintaining landscape quality.

Design for Discovery extends beyond the built project. Since opening, the client and design team have organized tours, talks, and discussions with professional institutions including RIBA, AIA, HKIA, and Open House HK to share the collaboration process and lessons learned with industry professionals and the public.

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Lessons for Architecture Practice

• Treat the ground plane as community infrastructure, not leftover space. In dense commercial districts, the podium can deliver more public value than the towers above. 83 King Lam Street demonstrates that the interface between private development and public realm deserves the same design rigor as any other building component.
• Design for shading and ventilation before adding mechanical solutions. The twin towers’ placement creates passive shading that extends the usable period of outdoor space. Wind tunnel testing confirmed cross-ventilation strategies. These passive moves make the public plaza functional year-round.
• Integrate multiple programs to create mutual benefit. F&B outlets gain customers from public plaza users. The landlord gains rentable auditorium space. The community gains free outdoor space and meeting facilities. Office tenants gain amenities. This economy of integration creates value for all stakeholders.
• Collaborate across generations and specializations. The partnership between Rocco Design Architects and COLLECTIVE Studio brought together different scales of practice and complementary expertise, producing a project neither firm would have created alone.

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A New Hong Kong Model

83 King Lam Street matters beyond its 7,728 square meter site because it demonstrates a replicable model for privately owned public space in Hong Kong’s dense commercial districts. As the jury observed, “this is really a new trend in Hong Kong now…people are treating the ground level or bottom parts of the tower as a public open space for the community.”

The project proves that public plazas can offer three-dimensional spatial and programmatic experiences that enhance social, economic, commercial, and environmental aspects simultaneously. It’s not simply a flat open space with trees and canopies, but an occupiable landscape that functions as connector, auditorium roof, event venue, and daily gathering space.

As Hong Kong continues redeveloping former industrial districts, 83 King Lam Street offers a tested model: commercial developments can succeed financially while delivering genuine community benefit through thoughtful integration of public and private space. The project shows that privately owned public spaces don’t have to be token gestures but can become valued community infrastructure that serves tenants, neighbors, and the broader public.

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Project Credits

Design

COLLECTIVE Studio (Podium Architecture, Landscape Design, Interior Design)
Directors: Betty Ng, Chi Yan Chan, Juan Minguez, Katja Lam
Design Team: Alex Wu, Anri Gyuloyan, Bill Yeung, Dillon Ng, Eugene Tse, Gabriel Lee, Jay Lee, Jeffrey Widjaja, Kevin Lai, Matthew Lin, Ray Lau, Ryan Leung, Pierre Wu, Sherman Lam, Wei Sing Tan, Wingyi So

Associate Architect

Rocco Design Architects (Twin Towers)

Client

New World Development

Consultants

AXXA Group Limited (Landscape Consultant); AECOM (Structural Engineer); J. Roger Preston Limited (MEP Engineer)

Main Contractor

Hip Seng Group of Companies

Photography

Tian Fong Fong and COLLECTIVE Studio

Project Data

Location: 83 King Lam Street, Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong
Completion: July 2024
Site Area: 7,728 m²
Floor Area: 92,736 m² (entire development)
Podium: 3 levels, 31,000 sq ft garden, 16,000 sq ft auditorium (300 seats)

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