Foster + Partners, Rocco Design Architects and OMA are the three offices that will develop the Stage 2

The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (“the Authority”) today (20 August) unveiled three Conceptual Plan Options for the West Kowloon Cultural District (“WKCD”) during the opening ceremony for the Stage 2 Public Engagement (“PE”) exercise, held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and attended by about 200 guests from more than 20 sectors.

The Stage 2 PE exercise will last for three months and run until 20 November 2010, providing the public with the opportunity to review all three Options and voice their preference on features for the Authority’s consideration.

At the opening ceremony, the Chairman of the Board of the Authority, Mr Henry Tang Ying-yen, said, “The District is starting to take shape, and the credit should go to our brilliant master planning teams as well as the people of Hong Kong and the arts and cultural stakeholders. Your enthusiasm and invaluable input during Stage 1 of the Public Engagement exercise helped spark the creative processes of these leading architectural teams. Each Conceptual Plan presents a vision of how the District can be developed into a centrepiece for the city – showing off Hong Kong’s unique character, integrating seamlessly with its surroundings, making cultural connections beyond our borders, and becoming a part of our social fabric.”

The three Conceptual Plan Options revealed today are:

• City Park – prepared by Foster + Partners, led by Lord Norman Foster;
• Cultural Connect: Key to Sustained Vitality – prepared by Rocco Design Architects Limited, led by Mr Rocco Yim; and
• Project for a New Dimension – prepared by Office for Metropolitan Architecture, led by Mr Rem Koolhaas.

The Consultants’ designs follow the planning design principles laid down by the Authority for the project’s development, which include Creativity, Accessibility, Connectivity, Integration, Vibrancy, Uniqueness and Sustainability. They have also incorporated views received from the people of Hong Kong, including the arts and cultural stakeholders, during the Stage 1 PE exercise which was held from October 2009 to January 2010.

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