Kwun Tong, Hong Kong, 1999.

Sport plays a very important role—it brings people together and it keeps us healthy. In this vein, the Government of Hong Kong invited us to further develop the design a multipurpose public sport centre in the Kowloon neighbourhood of Kwun Tong. Many of Hong Kong’s neighbourhoods have similar facilities, which serve as venues of sport and neighbourhood unity, and Kwun Tong was in need of just such a place.
Like many projects in Hong Kong, space was obviously scarce, and we were forced to include a demanding programme on a relatively small site. The Shun Lee Tsuen Recreational Ground was to have an outdoor athletic field (of football size, but easily convertible for other functions such as cricket or hockey matches), interior spaces for basketball and volleyball, a gymnasium, exercise rooms, indoor and outdoor community meeting spaces, locker room facilities and offices. We were able to successfully combine all of the required interior elements into a tightly packed, highly efficient rectangular box, by constructing a raised third-floor multi-purpose gymnasium, whilst placing programme elements under it on the ground floor. The building itself strikes a balance with its context of surrounding apartment blocks with its bold and linear modernist facades that evoke a mechanical aesthetic.
Our efficient allocation of interior space left much free space remaining on the site, allowing for room for not only a football field and outdoor community spaces, but also a small park for local families.
The Shun Lee Tsuen Recreational Ground is an expression of an architecture of community, and speaks to the importance of public spaces that can bring people together and encourage their interaction, thus furthering community cohesion and fostering a sense of civic participation, social inclusion and solidarity.