Text description provided by the architects. How can we create a temporary recycling station in our neighbourhood that would have a positive impact on the community? We do not want the Station to be a rubbish collection point, but a positive asset to the local area. The Community Green Station, located in Hong Kong East, is a pilot project for promoting green living and collection of recyclables at the community level. Completed in May 2015, we turned an under-utilized carpark under a flyover into a public gathering place to bridge the old and new neighborhood within the existing dense residential area.
The concept is to create a Street through the site to connect the surrounding communities. Greenies of the nearby Park are extended to the old district through this urban intercourse. Through the use of green wall, bamboo trellis and courtyard garden, it embodies a sense of community and a touch of oasis within the city.
The Station is divided into separate blocks along our Street that hold exhibitions and educational programmes, as well as recycling facilities that allows recyclable collections. Buildability is largely enhanced by modular and off-site prefabricated structural elements. Major components including the containers, bamboo and paving blocks are made of recycled or salvaged materials.
Various sustainable initiatives are adopted here to put the green culture of “Use Less, Waste Less” into practice. We reused the modular containers as the bases of our buildings yet modified to suit the need of different functions. The flyover above contributes to the passive cooling of the venues thus reducing solar heat gain.
The provision of large overhanging roof can shelter the interior from the sun. Ample on-grade greenings spread over the building and courtyard garden. Bamboo screens blend on the street elevations, soften the cool touch of containers and beautify the streetscape.
Our Street, together with the garden embodies varieties of gathering places, creates multiple layers of space from public to private, from open space, semi-open space to enclosed area, as an interpretation of pavilions in Chinese Garden.
The Station has created a magnet where public life can be nurtured. Although the building is temporary, it embodies permanent cultural value, rediscovers our roots and finds parallel with prevailing green features.
