Located at a hillside on the Hong Kong Island, this nine-storey private residence is set within an urban yet relatively low density area. Aedas designed a dramatic building that is unique to the history and context of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is one of the most cosmopolitan global cities in the world. The postcard image usually portrays the city as a densely populated place full of closely packed high rises. However if one was to strip bare all these trophies of commercialism, the island of Hong Kong at its core is a barren rock.
There is an early photo of Hong Kong taken by a foreign settler in 1850, which shows a waterfall flowing over a cliff and visually dividing the rock surface into two portions. This visual became a key driver of the design concept which uses a 1.5-metre grid to govern the planning of the building.
This is rigidly followed through on the façade to resemble the sturdy rock face; but punctuated by a sculptural staircase that reflects the freeform of water and was further reinterpreted as three stacking ice cubes. This collision of forms not only links the building to the historic setting of Hong Kong but also the current context of the site, making it uniquely appropriate.
The strong and dynamic juxtaposition also expresses the family’s passion for modern art. The design also provides flexibility for the owner to convert the building into individual apartments in the future, ensuring extended life and potential for adaptive reuse. Source by Aedas.
Location: Hong Kong, China
Architect: Aedas
Design Director / Co-design Director / Project Director: Ken Wai
Gross floor area: 1,832 sq m
Completion year: 2012
Images: Courtesy of Aedas
