The Shaw Auditorium opened on Nov. 17 on the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) campus.
The Henning Larsen-designed building combines a highly flexible, acoustically sophisticated auditorium with bright social spaces. Together, these spaces provide a “living room” for the campus community and a new world-class venue for Hong Kong.
The Shaw Auditorium stands on the hillside in the south of HKUST’s Clear Water Bay campus. It acts as the gateway to the campus between the academic faculties and neighboring community. Visitors are shaded and sheltered from the rain by the building’s deep cantilevers, which draw on the vernacular colonnades and canopies of Hong Kong’s traditional architecture.
Surrounded by orthogonal buildings, the auditorium’s curved form stands out and is meant to signal the artistic and cultural activities within. The circular building appears as three concentric white rings, interspersed with glazing to reveal panoramic views of Sai Kung Bay. The building is welcoming on all sides with no formal front or back.
A series of comfortable lobbies, a cafe, classrooms, and circulation spaces are conceived as an informal social focus for the campus where students can meet, study, and relax. As such, the auditorium is more than a destination for major events and becomes part of the everyday life of the campus community.
The venue can be adapted to accommodate a wide range of events from a live orchestra to amplified concerts, talks, gala dinners, and exhibitions. A proscenium can be lowered to frame the stage for theater and ballet while the rectilinear plan brings the audience close to the performers and creates an intimate atmosphere. The raked seating can be configured to fit 840 or 1,300 seats, or stored to provide an open surface for conferences, open days, and exhibitions. The curved wall can also function as a 360-degree projection screen.
The project was designed with a BEAM Platinum environmental strategy that includes a district cooling system, photovoltaic panels over more than half the roof, a highly efficient façade, lighting control, and brushless DC motors fan coil units. A smart ventilation Aircuity System monitors the indoor air quality to ensure sufficient fresh air, using precision sensors to save energy. Acoustic separation, anti-vibration and noise control measures are in place for all building services equipment. The outer wall of the auditorium is clad in bamboo from a renewable supply, mineral paint has been specified for the white façade, and Norwegian wool is used in the acoustic panels.
Henning Larsen designed the project in collaboration with Wong Tung and Partners, WSP Hong Kong, Theatreplan, Marshall Day Acoustics, URBIS, Inhabit, CTA, and RLB.
Related Stories
Building Team Awards | Apr 9, 2015
9/11 museum triumphs over controversy
The Building Team for this highly visible project had much more than design, engineering, and construction problems to deal with.
Cultural Facilities | Apr 7, 2015
Mies’ Martin Luther King Jr. Library to get makeover
The architects say the modernization aims to improve “Mies in a contemporary Miesian way.”
Cultural Facilities | Apr 6, 2015
Berkeley’s West Branch Library generates more energy than it uses
The 9,400-sf facility is California's first Net Zero Energy-certified building.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 31, 2015
Pratt Institute to offer first-ever degree in placemaking
As part of its new Urban Placemaking and Management degree, Pratt will offer courses on topics such as "the history and theory of public space" and the "economics of place."
Structural Materials | Mar 30, 2015
12 projects earn structural steel industry's top building award
Calatrava's soaring Innovation Science and Technology Building at Florida Polytechnic University is among the 12 projects honored by the American Institute of Steel Construction in the 2015 IDEAS² awards competition.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 30, 2015
Designs released for new entertainment center in Lubbock, Texas
Amenities of the facility include a performance venue that seats 2,220, a smaller one that seats 425, a 6,000-sf multipurpose room, and a bistro café.
Religious Facilities | Mar 23, 2015
Is nothing sacred? Seattle church to become a restaurant and ballroom
A Seattle-based real estate developer plans to convert a historic downtown building, which for more than a century has served as a church sanctuary, into a restaurant with ballroom space.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 17, 2015
The High Line’s co-designer wins contract for The Underline in Miami
James Corner Field Operations will design the master plan for this 10-mile restoration project.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 13, 2015
New Orleans observation tower to feature 320-foot double-helix gondola ride
Tricentennial Tower will take visitors on a 300-year journey through the city's history before landing them at the top for a 360-degree view of the Crescent City.
Retail Centers | Mar 10, 2015
Retrofit projects give dying malls new purpose
Approximately one-third of the country’s 1,200 enclosed malls are dead or dying. The good news is that a sizable portion of that building stock is being repurposed.
