A galaxy of architects, artists and designers have joined forces to create an out-of-this-world art and retail complex with millennial appeal in Hong Kong. The immersive ‘phygital’ shopping experience rethinks the city’s ubiquitous, inward-looking mega...
A galaxy of architects, artists and designers have joined forces to create an out-of-this-world art and retail complex with millennial appeal in Hong Kong. The immersive ‘phygital’ shopping experience rethinks the city’s ubiquitous, inward-looking megablock malls, aspiring to become a ‘cultural Silicon valley’.
Lit by 1,800 custom-designed light bulbs, K11 Musea’s 35m-high atrium features 1,115 sq m of curved aluminium panels hand-painted by local artist William Lam, and a dramatic spherical event space in the centre. The atrium was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, with steel and fibreglass structures by Hong Kong design studio LAAB and William Lam.Lit by 1,800 custom-designed light bulbs, K11 Musea’s 35m-high atrium features 1,115 sq m of curved aluminium panels hand-painted by local artist William Lam, and a dramatic spherical event space in the centre. The atrium was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, with steel and fibreglass structures by Hong Kong design studio LAAB and William Lam.On a late evening in July, billionaire Hong Kong developer Adrian Cheng points a laser beam at a single light bulb, one of 1,800 scattered across the ceiling of the 35m-high atrium in his newest and most ambitious project yet. The atmosphere Cheng wants to create is that of a sparkling galaxy, and this is best achieved through a diverse range ofThe process is painstaking, but Cheng has spent ten years considering almost every detail of his bold new ten-storey retail-and-art complex, designed to appeal to brand-savvy millennials. The project is very personal. K11 Musea is the last segment of the ambitious US$2.6bn Victoria Dockside cultural district on a 28-hectare site on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront. Originally known as Holt’s Wharf, the district was an important railway hub before it was bought in 1971 by Cheng’s grandfather, the local hotel and property magnate Cheng Yu-Tung, who turned it into New World Centre, a retail, hotel, residential and office complex. It was closed in 2009 to allow for the redevelopment, which already includes a 65-storey Tony Chi-designed Rosewood flagship hotel, the K11 Atelier office tower, and the 21-storey K11 Artus residences, with interiors by architect. K11 Musea, camouflaged with a 5,000 sq m living garden façade, is the collaborative effort of 100 architects, artists, craftsmen, conservationists and designers, working with James Corner Field Operations and Kohn Pedersen Fox. ‘I don’t think one person can do everything, so that is why we have so many designers and one person – me – to pull it together,’ Cheng says of this unusual, multi-designer approach. K11 Group founder Adrian Cheng in front of the Gold Ball, the atrium’s 10.4m-wide spherical event space designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox. The 285 carved glass panels were designed by Speirs & Major, who were also responsible for the overallPart of Cheng’s vision includes rethinking the city’s ubiquitous, inward-looking megablock malls by creating well-designed connections between K11 Musea and the harbour-front public promenade, upgraded as part of the project. A 100m-long, 40m-wide and 8.4m-high ‘visual corridor’, a strategic opening lined with butterfly-shaped panels that can be programmed to create specialeffects, now links Tsim Sha Tsui and the water. ‘K11 Musea is the core that holds Victoria Dockside together,’ Cheng explains. ‘It is a hub. I think of it as a cultural Silicon Valley.’ The project’s sustainability credentials are impressive, including gold certifications by Leed and Hong Kong Beam Plus. There’s significant green space, with vertical green walls, a rooftop kitchen garden and playgrounds, as well as urban biodiversity exhibits of rare and local plants, and a top-floor aquarium that reflects the harbour’s aquatic life. Rainwater harvesting provides 100 per cent of the project’s irrigation water, while a seawater-cooled, oil-free heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system reduces energy consumption. Inside, K11 Musea continues its divergence from generic luxury retail offerings with an immersive ‘phygital’ shopping experience that Cheng says embraces the digital world. ‘We don’t see digital retail as the enemy. Both [physical and digital] worlds are key to being relevant in the future.’ Cheng should know: he has spent the last decade combining retail with a beguiling mix of craft, heritage, design and creativity at his K11 shopping malls in China and Hong Kong.This philosophy has been extended to several of his high-end residential and office projects. Together with the findings of a K11 task force that researches what Generation Z, millennials, and Generation Alpha super-consumers in Asia want, it underpins his belief that the way forward is for K11 Musea to be an ultra high-end, experiential retail, art, cultural and dining destination. Exclusive, bespoke products will be on offer from the likes of
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