ESKYIU architectural designers Marisa Yiu and Dr. Eric Schuldenfrei have a reputation for progressive conceptual thinking of urbanism, architecture and art, so it was no surprise that when K11 brand founder Adrian Cheng commissioned them to design the interiors of his new office building, they quickly came up with an unusual plan to combine offices, culture and technology.
‘We wanted to go beyond traditional office design and use our curatorial and creative communication strategies to create something unconventional,’ Yiu explains.
The lower three floors of the P&T-designed Platinum LEED 22-storey building feature an eye-catching green vertical facade that wraps underneath the main entrance ceiling creating an upside down hanging green field of 45,000 living ferns and two 4m-tall artificial olive trees.
The nature theme continues in the basement car parking with rammed earth walls, a ground floor stone ‘heritage wall’ made of materials excavated on-site, glass, wood and stone, and the landscaped rooftop.
The designers’ experience with biennales and exhibitions led them to anticipate the most demanding of works in the second-floor cultural space, which has one of the highest floor loading strengths in Hong Kong to accommodate exceptionally heavy art pieces.
The enormous freight elevator doubles as an art display area, and extra-large artworks can be delivered through a 5.6 by 8m retractable bi-fold glass wall. The custom design complex lighting grid system also allows easy adjustment and flexibility for multiple events.
Innovative design details include urban-inspired 3D printed graphics, removable metal wall plugs that allow for large murals, gender-neutral washrooms with dramatic 6m-high ceilings and elevators that automatically detect office workers’ destinations by reading an app on their mobile phones. On the upper floors, workspaces are bright and flexible with floor-to-ceiling windows, a well-equipped kitchen, executive shower and lactation rooms. And there is an urban rooftop farm with a 200m running track.
INFORMATION
-
Step inside a Hollywood Hills home where European design meets Californian easeLA studio Broad Project takes us inside its cinematic renovation of a 1960s Spanish Revival home in the Hollywood Hills
-
Wallpaper* checks in at Jnane Rumi: clarity, reflection and connectionIn the quiet tranquillity of Marrakech’s Palmeraie, Jnane Rumi evokes a rich and colourful tapestry of Moroccan art, craftsmanship and design
-
Cindy Sherman in Menorca: ‘She's decades ahead of social media and the construction of identity for the camera’‘Cindy Sherman: The Women’, its title a nod to an image-conscious 1930s Broadway hit, takes the American artist's carefully constructed, highly performative works to Hauser & Wirth Menorca
-
A nature-inspired Chinese art centre cuts a crisp figure in a Guiyang parkA new Chinese art centre by Atelier Xi in the country's Guizhou Province is designed to bring together nature, art and community
-
Zaha Hadid Architects’ spaceship-like Shenzhen Science and Technology Museum is now openLast week, ZHA announced the opening of its latest project: a museum in Shenzhen, China, dedicated to the power of technological advancements. It was only fitting, therefore, that the building design should embrace innovation
-
A Xingfa cement factory’s reimagining breathes new life into an abandoned industrial siteWe tour the Xingfa cement factory in China, where a redesign by landscape architecture firm SWA completely transforms an old industrial site into a lush park
-
Bold, geometric minimalism rules at Toteme’s new store by Herzog & de Meuron in ChinaToteme launches a bold, monochromatic new store in Beijing – the brand’s first in China – created by Swiss architecture masters Herzog & de Meuron
-
The upcoming Zaha Hadid Architects projects set to transform the horizonA peek at Zaha Hadid Architects’ future projects, which will comprise some of the most innovative and intriguing structures in the world
-
Liu Jiakun wins 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize: explore the Chinese architect's workLiu Jiakun, 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, is celebrated for his 'deep coherence', quality and transcendent architecture
-
Zaha Hadid Architects reveals plans for a futuristic project in Shaoxing, ChinaThe cultural and arts centre looks breathtakingly modern, but takes cues from the ancient history of Shaoxing
-
The Hengqin Culture and Art Complex is China’s newest cultural megastructureAtelier Apeiron’s Hengqin Culture and Art Complex strides across its waterside site on vast arches, bringing a host of facilities and public spaces to one of China’s most rapidly urbanising areas
