Emerging Architect Competition Winner
The Nature Inspired Youth Center winner for the Emerging Architects category is Hiu Tung Kwan. She created a design to immerse the youth within the forest site.
Hiu Tung Kwan completed her architectural education at the University of Bath, in the U.K. where she lives now.
Her Chinese origin leads her interest in the Zen culture.
Zen culture influences the development of traditional Chinese Architecture. It addresses that the garden should be part of the building; landscape and architecture cannot be separately designed.
Her Youth Centre tries to blend into nature by creating a shallow hill-shaped green roof on a slopping site.
Having been inspired by traditional Chinese Architecture and gardening design, she brought the natural element from ground
level to the basement by introducing sunken courtyards. Each courtyard pairs up with an Activity Hub. It provides natural light
to the basement, a private greenery view from each Hub, and a relaxing garden for occupants. The sunken courtyard idea in her
Youth Centre rebuilds connections between people, architecture, and nature. Hiu Tung is passionate about cultural and educational design.
She believes that a Youth Centre is a place for children to understand their strengths and personality, and to build up their confidence leading to their successful adulthood. The Centre, therefore, is divided into four Activity Hubs based on the DISC personality types (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness).
Each of them is assigned a unique activity to match their personality.
The Activity Hubs are formed with glazed walls and a coloured translucent wall to highlight the entrance. The glazed walls encourage observation and knowledge sharing in the Centre. The translucent wall is made of polycarbonate panels. The Colour of the
polycarbonate panel represents personality/ activity.
The design ties up the forest context, the site, and the building design.
