Architecture People & Places






QUIZ

HEAD Architecture - House in Hong Kong

HEAD Architecture designed House 3098, a three-story home in the Shep Mun Kap village of Hong Kong's Lantau Island. Photo: Graham Uden

HEAD Architecture has designed a home that the firm believes could serve as an architecturally high-quality prototype for the village homes program in Hong Kong's New Territories.  House 3098 is a three-story cast-in-place concrete structure that emphasizes possibility while complying with the policy's limitations for building height, area, construction type and other restrictions.

The front and rear elevations of the house provide operable floor-to-ceiling glazing, admitting light and air to all spaces. The rooms of House 3098 are organized around a skylit three-story atrium space that provides daylight and stack ventilation.

Ground-floor kitchen and dining spaces. Photo: Graham Uden

Increasing the sense of openness, glass is also used for guardrails and many doors. Bamboo floors and LED lighting have been installed throughout the house. A rooftop patio provides unobstructed views of the surrounding landscape, and support for a future green roof has been provided.

Looking down and across the atrium space. Photo: Graham Uden

In Hong Kong since 1972, a policy has existed that entitles every indigenous adult male villager in the New Territories to apply to build a small house within their village. So long as these homes adhere to a set of prescribed limitations, the buildings are exempt from a number of permitting and design-review requirements.

House 3098 master bedroom. Photo: Graham Uden

In addition to its patent gender bias, the New Territories Exempted House Policy, also known as the Small House Policy, critics claim that the policy is unsustainable and has produced poor-quality homes and public health and planning problems in villages throughout Hong Kong. Abuse and corruption are also cited as widespread.

Rooftop patio and skylight over atrium. Photo: Graham Uden

Among the highlighted restrictions of the Small House Policy are these limitations:

  • May not exceed three stories.
  • May not exceed 8.23 meters (27 feet) in height.
  • Roofed-over area may not exceed 65 square meters (700 square feet).
  • Limited to reinforced concrete and brick construction.
  • Balconies are limited to one building elevation.


Firm's video of the architectural photography session. Video: Graham Uden/ Courtesy HEAD Architecture


Project Credits
  • Architect: HEAD Architecture
  • Developer: Oceanic Properties Limited
  • Photographer: Graham Uden

Looking across circulation space toward stairs and master bedroom. Photo: Graham Uden

Interior stairs. Photo: Graham Uden

Ground-floor dining area. Photo: Graham Uden

Study adjacent to master bedroom. Photo: Graham Uden

Bathroom. Photo: Graham Uden

No comments:

Post a Comment

Send this to a friend       Subscribe       Contribute       Media Kit       Privacy       Comments
ARCHWEEK  |  GREAT BUILDINGS  |  ARCHIPLANET  |  DISCUSSION  |  BOOKS  |  BLOGS  |  SEARCH
ArchitectureWeek.com © 2012 Artifice, Inc. - All Rights Reserved