The Chai Wan campus of the Technological and Higher Education Institute (THEi) focuses primarily on the integration between the school community and the neighbourhood.
With its twin-block design, the campus is opened to an adjacent public park and the prevailing summer wind, embracing outdoor public green spaces and extending them vertically through sky-rise greening via various terraces and pocket spaces located on multiple levels.
The campus is inherently sustainable, with each design element creating sustainable value. Visual links between the neighbourhood and the harbour and mountain backdrops were preserved and a greenery coverage of about 35 percent is achieved. The bioclimatic façade design integrates with the building management system, which in turn enhances daylight harvesting, shading, natural ventilation, noise buffering and harbour views.
Sustainable landscaping enhances the site’s urban biodiversity, 120 trees and 33,000 shrubs were introduced, most of which are native species, creating habitats for wildlife while enhancing the campus microclimate. A campus greenhouse also serves as a visual and biophilic amenity, recycling CO2 from function rooms to boost plant photosynthesis; while the skyrise green spaces provide comfortable areas to sit and socialise and also bring green views into the upper-level classrooms.
The campus is also focused on the students and the wider community. At street level, the previously fragmented communal space has been reconnected, allowing the public to enjoy improved access and walkability through the campus to the harbourfront. Connections to the neighbourhood’s walkway system and public transport network were planned from the earliest design stages, with structural piers and linked bridges connecting to public walkways. The THEi campus provides a home for nature, a classroom for students and a hub for the community.
