The Board of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority announced they have chosen the Foster + Partners designed “City Park” for the massive West Kowloon Cultural District project. Foster + Partners design is a flowing mixture of 230,000 sq meters open park space and 32,000 sq meters of arts and cultural facilities.
Nineteen hectares of green park space dominate the District’s mammoth footprint. Foster + Partners wanted to the park to reflect that environment and filled it with the flora of the Hong Kong countryside and exotic specimens from around the world. The tree groves become denser closer to the center of the park, to create a shady canopy for visitors to enjoy on summer days. The park will be dotted with pavilions, gathering areas, public art installations, and an outdoor amphitheatre.
The district typology will be balanced out by a comprehensive arts and culture district. Woven in, out, and around the green space will be exhibition centers, concert and chamber halls, a hotel, a library and media center, and even a 2.2km continuous shaded waterfront promenade.
Foster + Partners aim to make City Park an entirely carbon neutral district. All of the buildings are integrated into a massive waste and water recycling system and are even laid out to be as efficient as possible. Foster + Partners made it clear they wanted not only their buildings to be efficient, but infrastructure as well. All traffic, parking, and servicing is located underneath City Park in a massive underground vehicle friendly complex. This allowed Foster + Partners to take a pedestrian-centric approach to City Park’s design. Solar and wind power will provide energy and a well laid out public transport system is within six minutes walking from anywhere in City Park.
109 firms were originally considered for the design for the District back in 2008. 12 firms were invited to compete and three: Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Rocco Design Architects, and Foster + Partners made the shortlist. Foster + Partners set up an Advisory Board made up of local and international artists, lawmakers, curators and the like to ensure a comprehensive design would be presented.
