OMA won the competition at Chu Hai College in Hong Kong

OMA Asia, together with the Hong Kong office of Leigh & Orange Architects, won the competition for a university campus near Hong Kong. The new campus, covering 28,000 square meters, is set to serve as the main headquarters for Chu Hai College upon its completion in 2012, as its buildings in Hong Kong can no longer accommodate the growing number of students.
The winning design by OMA features two equally sized elongated parallel buildings. Both structures are eight stories high and have a very "light facade," which means that the facades facing the courtyard consist only of a suspended metal mesh. Staircases are also suspended from these facades facing the inner courtyard, adding vibrancy to the entire space. OMA speaks in its report of a "visual unity" that will prevail throughout the campus and aid in transparency in the daily operations of the university.
The two blocks are connected by a multi-story underground section, which houses a library, café, and social and sports hall. The space between the two high-rise buildings is tiered with stairs and terraces where students can spend their free time between classes or where outdoor performances and exhibitions can take place.
The hilly terrain of the campus site naturally invited this solution. The relatively wide gap between the two buildings was created to provide the best possible conditions for natural ventilation of the complex. As a result, energy consumption for artificial air conditioning could be reduced by 15 to 30 percent. Several buildings that remained in the university campus after the British Army could be preserved thanks to the "new function" to accommodate student dormitories with a dining hall.
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