The Hong Kong Institute of Architects (HKIA) announced its Annual Awards 2012 late last month, and colleagues of the Architectural Services Department (ArchSD) have won the Medal of the Year of Hong Kong with the project of Columbarium and Garden of Remembrance at Kiu Tau Road, Wo Hop Shek. Let’s pay tribute to them for their remarkable achievements. I have learnt that colleagues at ArchSD, with the motto of “Partnering to Serve with Care” in mind, always think more deeply when designing and constructing community facilities so as to provide people-oriented services that can cater for the needs of the community and enhance the quality of our living environment.
The new columbarium in Wo Hop Shek is a marvellous example of how we can take into account the interests of both facility users and the local community. It projects a totally new image that does not conform to the stereotype of traditional columbaria, which always arouse feelings of loneliness, fear and sadness. Its design blends in with nature and the facility provides a serene, beautiful environment just like a garden. In addition, environmentally friendly wood has been used on the external walls to screen the columbarium from public view. Its impact on the neighbourhood is also greatly reduced by good ventilation to disperse incense smoke, while the lawn on the rooftop adds greenery.
Besides the columbarium, two other ArchSD projects, namely the Sai Kung Tseung Kwan O Government Complex and the STFA Lee Kam Primary School in Area 55, Tuen Mun, have also been awarded the HKIA Merit Award of Hong Kong – Community Building. In fact, quite a number of projects by ArchSD have won awards in the past, for example the Ping Shan Tin Shui Wai Cultural and Leisure Building (2011), the multiple award-winning Diamond Hill Crematorium (2009), the Diamond Hill Columbarium (2008) and the Stanley Waterfront Project (2007).
As the community aspires to a better living environment, ArchSD will endeavour to address the needs of different sectors of the community in the planning, construction, monitoring and maintenance of public buildings and community facilities. To build a better future and to respond to unpredictable incidents more effectively, colleagues at ArchSD have to draw on successful and valuable experiences from the past. To this end, ArchSD last year established the Knowledge Management System, which is designed to let colleagues share details of successful projects as well as the difficulties they encountered in daily work and their experience in overcoming them. Not only can colleagues share information through the database, but the department can also learn from the past and make improvements. For instance, the work experience in the discovery of Legionella bacteria at the Tamar Development Project in 2011 and the handling of the leakage problem of the newly opened Kai Tak Cruise Terminal during a black rainstorm are both worth recording. Having solved the problems in these two cases, the ArchSD project teams reviewed the situations and recorded their experiences and lessons learnt with a view to providing even better services in future.
Besides promoting experience sharing among its staff, ArchSD also formed the ArchSD Class early this year to pass on knowledge gained from work. Our colleagues will use their valuable work experience in design and project management as teaching material and share it in a series of classes with specific topics. The classes not only provide a platform for continuous learning, but also encourage colleagues to strengthen team co-operation through sharing, thus enhancing the drive for learning and team spirit in the whole department. What’s more, the classes do not take place only at the office, as our colleagues voluntarily visit projects of ArchSD or other organisations on weekends or holidays to put into practice the theories learnt in classes. These kinds of training activities are well received as participants can learn and share experience in a more relaxing atmosphere.
Finally, let me take this opportunity to introduce to you the free smartphone application ARCHITOUR launched by ArchSD last month. Through the application, you can join our online guided tour to view a number of government buildings anytime and anywhere for a better understanding of the design concepts and architectural and spatial characteristics, as well as the eco-friendly and greening features of our projects. In the initial phase, we are introducing eight government buildings under the themes of “Peaceful Soul” and “Vibrant Waterfront”, and will roll out introductions to other buildings with various themes later on. You are cordially invited to join the online tour and give us your feedback. Your comments are most valuable to us.
16 June, 2013
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