On Saturday, May 18th, TOWNLAND’s Director of Planning, Cindy Tsang, was invited by the Hong Kong Institute of Planners (HKIP) to share her experiences during the planning and design of The Hong Kong Jockey Club University of Chicago Academic Complex – The University of Chicago Francis and Rose Yuen Campus in Hong Kong. Together with Gavin Tun, Executive Project Director of the University of Chicago Booth HK Campus, she led a Technical Visit of the award-winning new Campus located at the ex-Victoria Road Detention Centre at Mount Davis.

About 50 Planners attended the afternoon Presentation and Site Tour to learn more about the fascinating history of the Site and the complex challenges faced during the planning and design process of the new facility, and to take a comprehensive tour of the stunning new educational structure and its integrated heritage components. A prime example of a successful heritage conservation and revitalization project, the UChicago Campus comprises a new academic building that floats above a cluster of Grade 3 Heritage Buildings that have been adaptively reused for teaching and heritage interpretation purposes. From the late 1930s, the Site was part of the British Army’s Jubilee Battery used in the defense of Hong Kong during the Second World War. Later, it became home to the Victoria Road Detention Centre, known as the “White House”. The Campus has successfully created a landmark modern educational facility that seamlessly blends with key heritage structures and the surrounding heavily vegetated and sloping topography overlooking the Sulphur Channel.

Designed by the late Bing Thom of Bing Thom Architects (now Revery Architecture), the campus has already been the recipient of three noteworthy design awards: SCUP (Society for College and University Planning) – Excellence in Architecture Merit Award; BCI Asia FutureArc Green Leadership Merit Award; and the ASLA (American Society of Landscape Architects) Northern California Chapter – Design Merit Award. It has also recently been one of six campuses shortlisted by the Secretariat du Prixe Versailles for the category of World’s most beautiful campuses in the South Asia and Pacific Region.

As part of a multi-disciplinary Team of internationally renowned designers and local experts, TOWNLAND was responsible for the successful Section 16 Planning Submission, the Visual Impact Assessment, and the Landscape Impact Assessment for this Project. We were delighted to have the chance to share our insights with the HKIP; the afternoon event was a success and the Presentation and tours of the stunning campus were well-received by all attendees!