The Hong Kong Institute of Architects has announced the winning design of the HKIA Young Architect Award. The competition theme centered on affordable housing and asked local architects aged 35 or below to propose innovative and unique design proposals for local housing. Arnold Yok Fai Wong's winning design reimagines the adaptability, livability and build-ability of affordable housing through modular construction in urban air space.
Titled “Modular & Inter-generational Community”, the winning design examines Hong Kong's condition with limited land to build upon. Learning from New York City's air rights, the proposal is located at the end of the Island East Corridor (IEC) to make use of the unused air space beneath the highway. The proposal anticipates promoted air rights through bonus floor area and exemption of site area as an incentive for developers. Assuming two floors and 80% of the air space below the Island East Corridor is suitable for construction, around 1,300 residential units could be built underneath.
The project is made to "fully explore the potential of the MiC together with the introduction of the first Suspended Modular Integrated Construction (SMiC) to work with air rights by suspending under bridges." The construction would start by completing three main structural cores using slip-form construction before installing MiC with six programmatic modules. The dense tower is made to provide a pedestrian-friendly horizontal streetscape for the community and embrace a human scale by creating The Social Valley, a central hub that promotes diverse social opportunities with various active and passive programs.
News via Hong Kong Institute of Architects
