Rooftop farming, earth walls, and art: is this Hong Kong’s most innovative office?
K11 brand founder's new office building in Hong Kong, designed by architectural designers ESKYIU, innovatively combines offices, culture and technology
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
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Catherine Shaw is a writer, editor and consultant specialising in architecture and design. She has written and contributed to over ten books, including award-winning monographs on art collector and designer Alan Chan, and on architect William Lim's Asian design philosophy. She has also authored books on architect André Fu, on Turkish interior designer Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu, and on Beijing-based OPEN Architecture's most significant cultural projects across China.
-
Take off: Mathieu Lehanneur's Olympic Cauldron rises into the Parisian night sky
The Paris 2024 Olympics’ opening ceremony was closed with a soaring cauldron spectacle that will go down in history
By Hugo Macdonald Published
-
Phaidon’s new Graphic Classics is a lavish greatest hits of graphic design
Graphic Classics is a compendium of seven centuries of visual culture, from the everyday and ephemeral to visionary works that reshaped our world
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Birley Chocolate hits the sweet ’n’ chic spot in London’s Chelsea
The new Birley Chocolate shop, a sibling to Birley Bakery, is a confection of colour as delicious as its finely crafted goods
By Melina Keays Published
-
'Famous but understudied': IM Pei exhibition at M+ in Hong Kong is a deep dive into the architect's legacy
'IM Pei: Life is Architecture' is an exhibition celebrating the global icon; and it's just opened at M+ in Hong Kong
By Ijeoma Ndukwe Published
-
Fotografiska Shanghai invites us to 'a poetic immersion' into the realm of photography
Fotografiska Shanghai by AIM Architecture opens nestled into a green corner of the Chinese city's Suzhou Creek
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A Chinese community hall brings contemporary minimalism to its historical site
A new Chinese community hall in Wanghu Village, designed by UAD, effortlessly blends old and new in minimalist architecture
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Gong House is a contemporary Chinese home drawing on its spectacular countryside context
Gong House by Shenzhen-based Various Associates is a modern family home nestled in the Chinese countryside
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The ZGC International Innovation Center in Beijing is a futuristic addition to China's own 'Silicon Valley'
The ZGC International Innovation Center by MAD Architects completes, revealing a new hub for technology and modern ideas that co-exists with its surroundings
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Emerald Screen Pergola brings wonder and intrigue to an everyday setting in China
Designed by Wutopia Lab, Emerald Screen Pergola is a pavilion designed to inject ‘magical realism’ into the everyday, nodding to ancient Chinese practices
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Beijing City Library is an otherworldly escape from the digital world
Beijing City Library by Snøhetta is a flowing, welcoming space to share knowledge and socialise
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Chinese scholar Zhang Taiyan’s house opens as a museum and bookshop in Suzhou
20th-century Chinese scholar Zhang Taiyan’s house in Suzhou has opened to the public as a museum, featuring a bookshop designed by Tsing-Tien Making
By Ellie Stathaki Published