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With a population density of 130,000 people per square kilometre, Mongkok, a neighbourhood in Hong Kong, is one of the most densely populated places on the planet.
Executive Director Cary Lau drew inspirations from the city’s post-war structures to design The Beacon, setting an excellent example of contemporary interpretation of traditional architecture. In the early post-war years, it was common to create illegal iron balconies for residential units in Mongkok, a hyper-dense neighbourhood in Hong Kong, to maximise view and area. The building design reinterprets these structures in a modern way – the irregular protrusions create unobstructed views for each unit. Also inspired by the home gardens which people created on those iron balconies, a green wall on the podium façade is designed to further connect the building with the historical cityscape and offer more greenery at the pedestrian level.
The building is set back from the street to allow more opportunities for planting, which creates a breathing space in the middle of the dense neighbourhood and provides rare greenery. It also transforms the outdoor landscape space into an urban backdrop for the building’s public areas such as an entrance lobby on the ground level and a transit lift lobby on the second floor.
Status: Built
Location: Hong Kong, HK
Firm Role: Design and Project Architect
