Architecture students attending the Chinese University of Hong Kong will enjoy the spatial variety and openness of Ida and Billy’s New School of Architecture situated on the edge of the campus. The form, a diagonal shape which is pierced to preserve views of the sky, has large openings to capture the campus’ topology and views of Tolo Harbor, “giving an infinite boundary to architectural thinking and design.”
More images and more about the school after the break.
The open spaces of school, such as the large public gallery space near the entry, provide ample room to display students’ work and hold large critique discussions. Large pivot joint metal blackboards double as partitioning doors to include or exclude the corridor spaces as desired. The gallery can even be extended into the gallery path and the external timber deck in the woods.
Studios and office centers are organized around an upper internal lawn with hanging ivy, while additional informal green learning areas weave in and out of the upper level rooms.
The form’s diagonal mass creates a breezeway through the building, enabling cross ventilation for and penetration of natural light to all levels. Metal grill panels of varying degrees of openings complete the concrete facade, while enabling light and air to enter.
All images courtesy of Ida and Billy Architects.
