The M+ Pavilion is the first completed building within the West Kowloon Cultural District master plan. The two-storey exhibition and event space was the result of a 2013 international design competition by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA). The winning design was by the team comprising VPANG Architects Ltd, JET Architecture Inc and Lisa Cheung. The pavilion was completed and opened to the public in September 2016.
FLOATING ART PLATFORM
Elevated on a berm, the pavilion’s architecture is represented as a floating art platform, displaying and sharing art with the city of Hong Kong.
The simple space, surrounded by natural light and nature, offers a respite from hectic city life, allowing one to unwind and relax while appreciating multidisciplinary art against the cityscape backdrop. The elevated outdoor terrace presents an expansive scene of the Hong Kong skyline and Victoria Harbour.
The elevated main exhibition space seems to float among the trees, while the white walls filter out the city’s noises. Full-length glazed doors create a connection between the indoor and outdoor exhibition spaces, with various lighting and open-air settings.
This flexibility allows transformation of space, which provides a multifunctional platform for artists, designers and organisations to stage all kinds of exhibitions and events.
INTERTWINED ECOLOGY
The pavilion blends itself into the surrounding 14-hectare Art Park that will form the heart of the waterside cultural district. The mirrored external walls not only camouflage the building, but also reverberate with the transformation of the city over time.
The design also explored the notion of ecology with the same smart simplistic approach, where the building, topographic landscape and wide-spreading tree canopies work together to form a continuous whole. This extensive greenery fuses the man-made with the natural.
The location, access and infrastructure for the pavilion are all related to the ongoing master plan. Extensive coordination works will be done with WKCDA and other consultants for the foreseeable future developments of the park.
The elevated walls are designed with strategic openings to intertwine the pavilion with its surroundings on a human scale. The northeast opening links to the future M+ Museum, while the northwest façade is close to the main road for services access. The curved steps at the southside waterfront-facing connection wrap around the central green berm, gradually bringing visitors from the ground level of the park to the raised pavilion platform.
PROJECT DATA
Project Name: M+ Pavilion
Location: West Kowloon Cultural District, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Completion Date: 5 September 2016
Site Area: 6,467 square metres
Gross Floor Area: 877 square metres
Building Height: 2 storeys; 9.05 metres
Client/Owner: West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA)
Architecture Firms: VPANG Architects Ltd (in association with Jet Architecture Inc and Lisa Cheung)
Principal Architects: Vincent Pang; Tynnon Chow; Lisa Cheung
Civil & Structural Engineer: Prudential Surveyors International Ltd
Mechanical & Electrical Engineer: Aurecon Hong Kong Ltd
Quantity Surveyor: Rider Levett Bucknall Ltd
Landscape Architect: Soscape Landscape Architecture Ltd
Main Contractor: Union Contractors Ltd
Images: WKCDA; VPANG Architects Ltd
