URA encourages innovative ideas among young people to foster special characteristics of Central and Western District

The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) joined hands with the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) and Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI), both under the Vocational Training Council (VTC), for the second year to co-organise the Innovative Design Competition 2018/19.  The competition aims to encourage tertiary students to apply their knowledge into practice while bringing about local characters and smart-living elements to the Central and Western District through creative designs.  The Final Adjudication cum Award Ceremony was held on 5 July (Friday).

Having considered the rich historical characteristics of the Central and Western District, the competition this year aimed to promote the understanding of the district’s local development and living culture among tertiary students while making use of their creativity and professional knowledge learnt from school.  The participants were required to employ creative thinking and incorporate smart-living design on a topic chosen from one of the four urban renewal projects in the district to showcase the local characteristics and foster cross-generation harmony and sustainable development in the community.  The four projects were Peel Street/Graham Street, Central Market, Pak Tsz Lane Park, and H6 CONET located in The Center.

Kicked off in December last year, the competition invited participation from higher diploma students of the engineering programme from IVE and the architectural design and interior design programmes of HKDI.  The URA also arranged docent tours to bring the students to the redevelopment and revitalisation projects of the URA to understand the characteristics, history, livelihood and culture of the local community, so as to gain insights for their works.  Visits to the Urban Renewal Exploration Centre were also arranged to allow students to understand the topics on urban renewal from different perspectives.

The Shortlisting was held in mid-June with adjudication panel formed by URA and IVE representatives, when eight entries were selected into the Final Adjudication.  The award winners were decided by the members of the Final Adjudication Panel, including URA Non-Executive Director, Professor Tang Bo-sin, VTC Deputy Executive Director, Ir Dr Eric Liu, and URA Managing Director, Ir Wai Chi-sing.

Professor Tang Bo-sin said at the Final Adjudication, “I am glad to see that all entries are very outstanding with creativity.  They demonstrate the participant’s well use of knowledge from school as well as their understanding of the needs of the people and community, exhibiting their empathy.”  He also envisaged the students to put the concept of “people first” and “community-based” into practice when they become professionals in areas such as architecture, design and urban planning in the future.

VTC Deputy Executive Director, Ir Dr Eric Liu, said, “The entries of the students excelled in various aspects such as feasibility and practicality, innovation and integration of community concepts.  I believe that this learning experience would drive their innovation with greater vitality so as to further expand their professional career ahead.”

Year 2 students of the Higher Diploma in Architectural Studies of IVE (Tsing Yi), Elmer Tai, Ivan Lee and Valli Leung, were awarded the “Gold Award” and “Most Community-friendly Award”.  Choosing the Central Market as design topic, they proposed to install a water curtain at the open space of Atrium to relieve the noise nuisance from outside in order to create a tranquil space for the office workers in the Central and Western District.  The water curtain will also serve as digital display to provide a communication platform for the visitors while showcasing information of the tourist spots in Central so as to promote the local characteristics.  The team’s representative Elmer Tai said after the ceremony, “Our team members have benefited a great deal from the competition.  Throughout the research and innovation process, we could grasp a wide range of knowledge in different architectural projects which have broadened our horizons.”

All the winning entries of the URA/IVE/HKDI Innovative Design Competition 2018/19 are now on display at the URA’s H6 CONET community space located at G/F, The Center, 99 Queen’s Road Central. The exhibition is opened for public viewing from 8 to 22 July.  For more information and photos about the winning entries, the public may visit the Facebook page （www.facebook.com/UrbanRenewalExplorationCentre）of Urban Renewal Exploration Centre.

Event schedule of URA/IVE/HKDI Innovative Design Competition 2018/19

Winner List of URA/IVE/HKDI Innovative Design Competition 2018/19

(ENDS)