Office Development at 18 King Wah Road

This development at 18 King Wah Road will be a Grade A office located in front of Hong Kong’s wellknown Victoria Harbour, offering expansive views facing the harbour. The objectives are to utilise the inherent view asset of the site and to create a visually attractive yet environmentally sustainable building. It aims to achieve a high Green building standard that will exceed the industry norm.

Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects (PCPA)—in collaboration with DLN Architects and Arup’s sustainability team—dealt with the challenge (a conflict between optimal harbour views and unfavourable afternoon sunlight) through an advanced solar-responsive façade solution, coupled with a series of computational analyses to augment passive design strategies adopted for this development. Benchmarking with the client’s other offices that were designed by PCPA—namely Two International Finance Centre (IFC) in Hong Kong and the Beijing World Financial Centre (WFC)—this project is intended to be a smart building that offers state-of-the-art provisions for future offices.

LOCATION AND FEATURES
The project was designed under the overarching concept of a walkable neighbourhood. It is located within a five-minute walk from Fortress Hill MTR station. Accessibility is enhanced by its proximity to other modes of transportation such as tram, ferry, minibus and bus networks. There is a 10-metre public passage on ground level with lush landscape that will connect with the waterfront promenade in the future. Y-columns at the podium enhance the contemporary outlook of the building. Moreover,it features an aerodynamic building form and permeable ground floor design. Another goal of this project is to bring the eastern district closer to the rest of Hong Kong, integrating a region where work, life and leisure are within walking distance of one another.

SUSTAINABLE AND GREEN DESIGN
The project incorporates various Green design strategies such as the following:
• Integrated solar-responsive design: solarresponsive façade sunshades work in dynamic balance with one another to resolve the challenge of optimal harbour views and the unfavourable afternoon sunlight
• Operational energy reduction
• Water conservation
• Comprehensive waste management that incorporates reduction and recycling
• Comprehensive pollution management
• Optimisation of material use
• Thermal comfort and energy saving enhanced by hybrid ventilation and motorised sunshading window blinds
• Improved indoor and outdoor environment for the neighbourhood
• Materials and pollution control
• Solar desiccant energy saving

Technologies used in the project include 3D, 4D, 5D and 6D BIM applications; advanced landscape and bioclimatic qualities; and low-carbon building envelope design systems.