This project is sited in Hong Kong and was assigned after returning from my study abroad semester at Penn State. It was a group project (three people including me) that bridged studio and our systems course. The project was very in depth in terms of precedent analysis, technology development and integration, and systems integration. I really enjoyed this project for the way-out-there assignment and open ended program.

A unity of program, the tower brings together a wet market, retail, convenience store, dim sum restaurant, night club, and micro-housing tower. This difficult slate of program made it hard to tie together everything naturally with flow and cohesion.

With a main entrance off of Third Street, the market begins after the user enters through a 3 story space linking the upper markets to the street level. Each market levels’ goods are determined by lighting levels, proximity to exits, and weight. Strewn within the markets are a dim sum restaurant to further help celebrate food within the culture, and a convenience store for the residents above.

The retail portion of the market is tied into the market through a central circulation core of open air staircases so the smells, sounds, and life of the market pervades the entire experience. The retail floors are organized like small mall levels. There is another entrance directly to the retail area via Second Street.

 

In order to make this massive building an efficient and sustainable use of space, there are 15 floors of micro-housing (typical of Hong Kong) bookended by a penthouse floor at the top and 3 floors of lobby and rec space at the bottom. The residential areas use shared kitchen spaces and a congregation area to promote living outside of the small apartments.

Lastly, below the entire building was a nightclub named Lift (the namesake of the tower). It completes the image of the tower. Taking into account the entire program of the building, there is a 24 hour, non-stop usage of the program as a whole. The stitching together of each space is not complete with just circulation cores. There is a double use delivery lift that provides access to the markets and for patrons of the nightclub at night. The elevator lobby provides access to the multiple markets and the residential areas.

To tie together everything on the exterior and interior is the adaptive skin which I designed using a plugin in Rhino. The skin pushes and pulls in and out of the building corresponding the entrances and exits, shop entryways, open market areas, and shared residential spaces. The skin becomes an interactive part of the building’s interior in some places, and then acts as an awning for the entrances and green roof terrace for the residents. The panels within the skin are used for shade, delineating public and private spaces, and generating power through solar panels. The building as a whole is an icon in the Hong Kong skyline.

Programs used: Revit, Rhino, Photoshop, Illustrator, AutoCAD