HKFYG Jockey Club Stanley Outdoor Training Centre

Client

The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups

Status

Completed in Q3 2021

Location

Stanley, Hong Kong

Size

1,150 sqm

St. Stephen’s Beach is a hidden gem in Stanley and the redevelopment of the existing outdoor training centre is a strategic project to activate the quieter side of Stanley for enhanced public utility. The new HKFYG Jockey Club 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 natural and built environment. The Centre occupies a beach front site in St. Stephen’s 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.

Key Partners

  • Authorized Person - Handi Architects Limited
  • Architect & Interior Design - Architecture Commons
  • E&M - Crest Consultants (Far East) Ltd.
  • Structure - JMK Consulting Engineers