Restoration and Re-functionalization
Foster + Partners is part of a new permanent exhibition at the Hong Kong Science Museum, which opened to the public on 6 February.
The ‘Living Tech Gallery’ is one of three new permanent exhibition spaces, exploring how technology is driving social progress and paving the way towards a better life. The practice has co-curated a display for the ‘Smart Life’ zone in the new gallery. Architectural models on display include the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters, Techo International Airport, BDO Unibank Inc. Campus, and the Lunar Habitation Prototype. Each project examines aspects of sustainability through workplace flexibility, innovative construction methods, inspiration from vernacular architecture, climate responses and biophilic design. The models are accompanied by a video that outlines the practice’s sustainable frameworks to measure carbon impact and carry out environmental analyses.
Luke Fox, Head of Studio, Foster + Partners, said: “It is an honour to be the only architectural practice invited to contribute to these fascinating new permanent galleries, and wonderful to see our work on permanent display at the Hong Kong Science Museum. We have been working in the city since winning the competition for the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters in 1979 – a building that reimagined the office tower for a new generation. From the earliest days of the practice, we have viewed technology as an essential tool for driving innovation and sustainable design – an attitude that continues to define our approach today.”
Foster + Partners’ projects on display in the ‘Living Tech Gallery’:
Hongkong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters, 1979 - 1986
This project addressed the nature of banking in Hong Kong and how it should be expressed in built form. From the outset, the emphasis was on flexibility, allowing the building’s layout to be reconfigured with ease, and fast construction on a restricted site was achieved through the use of prefabricated ‘kit of parts’ elements. The three tower heights create deep plan, uninterrupted flexible floors of varying depths and regular double-height amenity floors break down the scale with local circulation via escalators.
Techo International Airport, 2020 - 2025
Cambodia’s new terminal evokes a strong sense of place, drawing inspiration from one of the oldest civilisations on earth and responding to the tropical climate. Throughout the building, soffits are inspired by traditional basket weaving. Suspended under the building’s lightweight steel grid shell structure, a latticed soffit filters daylight into the vast terminal space throughout the day. 180 skylights are strategically placed around structural ‘trees,’ to bring natural light deep into the space while ensuring it is distributed evenly.
BDO Unibank Inc. Campus, 2018 - 2027
Departing from the typical model of airconditioned high-rise office towers in Manila, the practice’s design for the headquarters learns from vernacular architecture and is highly responsive to the humid tropical climate. The team carried out extensive solar analysis on the façades to determine which areas receive the highest levels of sun exposure. These areas are shaded by the woven metal mesh infill screens that are inspired by traditional weaving patterns.
Lunar Habitation Prototype
Foster + Partners with NASA, Branch Technology and Stanford University
Foster + Partners has been exploring the possibilities of living on the Moon since 2012, collaborating first with the European Space Agency and later NASA, to evolve proposals for extra-terrestrial architecture that could bring us closer to human habitation on the lunar surface.
The habitation system of interlocking building blocks would be built by 3D-printing robots using lunar dust mixed with biologically derived composites from Earth and recycled materials from space missions. This approach reduces the extreme launch mass and minimises the associated cost of sending materials from Earth.
For more details about the new galleries, please visit the museum’s website.
