HKU Bulletin June 2013 (Vol. 14 No. 3)

Campus Development an international partner with global experience of innovative campus development, to present proposals for the design concept. Says Mr Wong: “It was significant that we got support for having a competition – the first time the University has done this.” Adds Professor Malpas: “We asked for an international element because we felt there had been overseas developments in campus design that had gone beyond what was appreciated in Hong Kong and we wanted that overseas expertise involved.” They were also looking for architects who understood the particular needs of a campus design as opposed to a commercial building. “Profit maximisation and reputation are the most important goals for a commercial project,” says Mr Tam. “But a campus project is measured by the social benefits it can bring. That’s why we set ourselves a higher standard of environmental protection and sustainability.” Wong & Ouyang and Sasaki Associates won the task with a masterplan proposal strong on strategic planning principles. The team was now complete. Obstacles With a project this size, there were bound to be obstacles. “Lack of space, technical difficulties, financial constraints… and red tape – we have had to deal with 16 different government departments!” says Professor Malpas. The biggest hurdle would be the site itself. While permission had been gained early on to build on land belonging to the Water Services Department (WSD) adjacent to the campus, there was the rather large question of how to deal with the massive reservoir tanks situated there, a storage facility essential to the city’s water supply. “Fortunately, a creative solution emerged – digging caverns deep into the hill to store the water,” says Mr Wong, “which avoided extensive tree-cutting, minimised air and noise pollution impact, and ensured undisrupted water supplies. HKU is the only institution in Hong Kong (perhaps in the world) to re- provision existing service reservoirs to form the site of a new campus.” It was a plan so audacious that, according to Mr Wong, for a while “it was considered ‘Mission Impossible’ by most engineers, including ourselves”. But after some initial difficulty persuading the WSD that it could be done, it became mission accomplished within just two years. “The WSD said it would take seven years but we did it in two because we only had two,” says Professor Malpas. Mr Tam lists other problems. “There was a landslip during a black rainstorm in the summer of 2008,” says Mr Tam. “Then, during underground excavation work we encountered extremely hard ground which caused delays. Finally, near the end of the project, we faced severe labour shortages in the construction industry.” It is testament to the strength and commitment of the team that all problems great and small were overcome. Ô Õ Ö × Ø × Ö × Ù Ú Û Ü Ú Ý × Ù Û Þ ß à á Ø â Ú â á Þ Ù Ú Ý Û Õ Û Ü Ú Ú Ø ã × ß Õ Ø Ö Ú Ø Û á Ø Ý Ø Ú á ß à ä ß Ú Ù × Ý Ú Ø Û Ù å á Ø Õ Ø æ Ú ç è é Õ Ù × ã Ú Ý ß × é é æ á Ø Ý æ à ß Ú á ê Û Þ Ø Ø Ú é é × Ø ë Ö Ú Û Ü Õ Ý ì á Ù Þ Ù Ú Ý Û Õ Ü Õ Þ Ù Ú Û ì Õ Ù á é Û ì á Û Ú ß ß Ú Ù Ú ß ã Õ × ß Ù × Ø á ß Õ â ê â á ã Ú ß Ø í The Centennial Campus is something exceptional in a university. It has added to our stature and befits what HKU should be. î ï ð ñ ò ó ó ð ï ô ð õ ö ÷ ø ù ú ø ó Teamwork behind State-of-the-Art Campus Three key members of the Centennial Campus team – Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Infrastructure) Professor John Malpas (now President of the Centennial College), Director of Estates Mr Kenneth Wong (now retired), Project Manager Mr KL Tam (now Acting Director of Estates) – reveal how their vision for the Centennial Campus became a reality. The distinctive terracotta tones of Centennial Campus have become familiar features of HKU so quickly it’s hard to believe that site preparation work began just five years ago. Planning work for the 43,000m 2 development – the most ambitious expansion project since HKU’s opening 101 years ago – began long before, as early as 1997, when an informal strategic working group was formed under then Vice-Chancellor Professor Patrick Cheng. “We were thinking about how the University would develop, and even then discussing the possibility of a four-year curriculum,” says Professor Malpas. From these initial talks the idea of a Millennium Campus Masterplan was born, and from that emerged the plan that would eventually become the Centennial Campus (CC). Early on, the core team came up with four main principles for the project, namely: to create a unified teaching and learning environment as well as a research one; to build it adjacent to or as part of the existing campus; to respect the environment, make it sustainable, and preserve heritage buildings; and to work closely with the community. “The level of public engagement has been extraordinary,” says Professor Malpas. “They have been involved since the start, when we held preliminary design forums, and we have taken on-board many of their suggestions.” With the four principles in place, the team took another innovative approach to the design. In 2005, they invited four architectural consortia, each comprising a local architectural firm and û á Ö Ö Ú ß × Ø ë Û Ü Ú Ö á × Ý Ú Ø ß Õ â ê Û Õ Ö á ß ê Û Ü Ú â Õ Ö Ö Ú Ø â Ú Ö Ú Ø Û Õ ü ì Õ ß ê Ù × Ø ý è ß × é þ ÿ ÿ í ß Õ Ö é Ú ü Û ß Õ ü Ú Ù Ù Õ ß á è æ Ü Ú Ú Ô Ù Þ × å × â Ú æ Ü á Ø â Ú é é Õ ß Ô Ü Ú û Õ Ø Õ Þ ß á à é Ú û Ú Ø ß ä á Ø å Û Ü Ú Ø Ô ß Ú á Ù Þ ß Ú ß Õ ü Û Ü Ú Õ Þ Ø â × é ß × â Û Õ ß Þ Ø ë å Û Ü Ú Ø Ü á × ß Ö á Ø Õ ü Û Ü Ú Õ Þ Ø â × é ß á â ê Õ å Û Ü Ú Ø Ú Ö à Ú ß Õ ü Û Ü Ú Õ Þ Ø â × é á Ø Ý Ü á × ß Ö á Ø Õ ü Û Ü Ú á Ö è Þ Ù Ú ã Ú é Õ è Ö Ú Ø Û á Ø Ý é á Ø Ø × Ø ë Õ Ö Ö × Û Û Ú Ú ß Õ ü Ú Ù Ù Õ ß Õ Ü Ø á é è á Ù å Û Ü Ú Ø ß Õ æ × â Ú æ Ü á Ø â Ú é é Õ ß á Ø Ý Ü á × ß Ö á Ø Õ ü ß Õ Ú â Û ß Õ Þ è ü Õ ß Ú Ø Û Ú Ø Ø × á é á Ö è Þ Ù á Ø Ý á × Ø á Ö è Þ Ù Ú Ý Ú ã Ú é Õ è Ö Ú Ø Û á Ø Ý ß Ü á Ø Ü × æ â Ü × Þ å Û Ü Ú Ø × ß Ú â Û Õ ß Õ ü á Û Ú ß Þ è è é × Ú Ù í Ô Ü Ú Û ß × Õ ü ß Õ Ö é Ú ü Û ß Ô á Ö å ß Õ ü Ú Ù Ù Õ ß Õ Ü Ø á é è á Ù á Ø Ý ß Ú Ø Ø Ú Û Ü Õ Ø ë Ù è á ß Ú Ý Ø Õ Ú ü ü Õ ß Û Û Õ à Þ × é Ý Û Ü Ú Ú Ø Û Ú Ø Ø × á é á Ö è Þ Ù ì × Û Ü ã × Ù × Õ Ø á Ø Ý è á Ù Ù × Õ Ø í 47 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin June 2013