Revitalising Hong Kong’s Olympian City plaza – in the shade
An architect-designed shell-like structure for and by the community has transformed a forlorn plaza in Tai Kok Tsui
The Olympian City plaza plays host to Christmas markets, and maybe the odd commercial event, but for the most part, it remains empty, a vast expanse of sun-beaten brick next to a noisy road, punctuated by palm trees offering little shade. “There’s a lot of space but nobody actually stays here,” says architect Su Chang. “So how do you form a sense of place? It’s quite challenging.”
In 2023, Su and his studio, Su Chang Design Research Office, had the opportunity to improve the space when community art and design initiative RE: Tai Kok Tsui organised a competition to create a pavilion for community events in the plaza. “There are very few design competitions for architecture in Hong Kong, so it was a rare opportunity,” says Su. They submitted their proposal at the end of that year and learned they had won in March 2024. The pavilion was officially inaugurated this January.
“After redevelopment so many things disappear,” says Timothy Ma Kam-wah, chairman of the URF’s board of directors. “But the neighbourhood heritage is the people who live here.”
Originally a narrow peninsula extending into Victoria Harbour from Mong Kok’s farmland, Tai Kok Tsui was home to the Cosmopolitan Dock, one of Hong Kong’s largest shipyards, from 1880 to 1972. The docks attracted factories, workshops and a working-class community that survives today, even as Tai Kok Tsui’s central location has made it a magnet for new office and housing developments.