Merits in Architecture – HKFYG Jockey Club Stanley Outdoor Training Camp by Architecture Commons
The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Stanley Outdoor Training Centre is the only facility on Hong Kong Island that provides boarding with outdoor training. Aside from physical skills, it also educates young people in sustainability and appreciation of our fragile ecosystem. As architects naturally our every design decision is rooted in our responsibility to the environment. The Centre occupies a beachfront site in Stanley Bay that is cradled by a lush hilly backdrop. To the west our neighbour is a beautiful Ficus Elastica with a lush emerald crown. In order to minimize the disturbance to the tree both during and after construction, we skewed the building mass away and it created our distinctive form. The Ficus in return shields us from the western sun. The bespoke two-sided perforated metal façade is a unique green wall design to camouflage our building in the surrounding green. It is an effective second skin to reduce solar heat gain. At the critical moments of our design process, we were interrupted by super typhoons Hato in 2017 and Mangkhut in 2018, which were both timely alarms to re-evaluate our resilience and defences against the warming climate and rising sea level. This led to the proposed extended deck towards the high-water mark with a curved wave wall to protect the building against storm surges and other escalating climate events. The arrangement of the building’s interior is centred around a stack of social spaces, which promotes interactions of the users and allows for north-south ventilation.
Credits
Design Architects: Architecture Commons – Rick Lam, AIA , Eric Ho, AIA , Hokan Wong, Charlotta Chan, Dyrus Hau, Sinyee Wong
Client: The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups
Handi Architects Ltd. (Authorized Person)
JMK Consulting Engineers Ltd (Structural Consultant),
Buro Happold Intl. (HK) Ltd (Facade Consultant)
Crest Consultants (Far East) Ltd (E&M Consultant)
Rider Levett Bucknall Ltd (Quantity Surveyor)
Urbis Ltd (Landscape Consultant)
SRB Engineering Company Ltd (Kitchen Consultant)
Kris Provoost Photography (Photographer)
Kim Hung Construction & Engineering Co Ltd (Main Contractor)
