Studio Zhai 札藝工作室

A centennial structure out of the radar of regular folks, sitting silently off the usual beaten path away from settlements on a site few chose to access, Fong Yuen Study Hall is undergoing another transformation, quietly. We chose to surgically re-organize the escape staircase away from the historic facade, transforming itself into an observation path and deck, and consolidating the disparate volumes such as the mechanical rooms and toilet blocks into a coherent whole, allowing visitors to focus their attention to the historic building. A layer of panels is installed on the interior facade to allow modern functions while flexible enough to reveal the historical significant elements in different configurations.

這座百年歷史的建築物鮮為常人所知，遠離人口聚集區，安靜地坐落在偏離常規路徑的地方。這個地點 — 芳園書室 — 只有零落的人群選擇前往，而她正在悄悄地進行另一次的轉型。

我們的方案選擇精心地重新組織逃生樓梯，遠離歷史建築的立面，將其轉變為觀景路徑和平台，並將配電房和衛生間等分散的空間整合為一個協調的整體，讓訪客能更專注於欣賞這座歷史建築及其周遭環境。

我們在內部外牆上安裝了一層面板,既可以容納現代功能,又能靈活地展現歷史重要元素的不同配置。

The swimming hall is one of the two large spaces in the Yew Wah Sports Center, with the other being the ballcourt which has a higher ceiling. Both spaces are designed with the same long-span exposed roof structure, in order to emphasize the different directions of movement and turning during sports activities.

泳館是耀華體育中心兩個大型空間之一，另一個是有較高天花板的球館。兩個空間都設計有相同的長跨度外露頂棚，以強調運動時不同方向的移動和轉向。

Sports Centre ready to be roofed over the long spans. Looking interesting.

Main teaching block. Siyuan Experimental School, China.

The speed and scale of the 20+ schools to be built swiftly demanded a simple solution including geometry and material selections. The monotonous palette and the abstract form and straight-forward construction was the result of the careful consideration about the mission of the project to almost suddenly appear in order to start teaching.

主教學樓- 中國思源實驗學校

為了快速建造二十多所學校要求的速度和規模，需要一個簡單的解決方案，包括簡單的幾何空間和主材料的選擇。單調的用色、抽象的形式和直接的建造方式是對該項目使命的仔細考慮的結果。學校幾乎是突然出現的，以便儘快開始教學。

photography: Nathaniel McMahon.

Our first design of a Vivarium is receiving its first reptile friends. The simple rotated geometry of the cabinet boxes created an illusion of 3-dimensionality for both the observers and the inhabitants alike, thanks also to the mural background hand painted by Mr Joe Yiu.

As we embark on the mission to imbue the lower levels of the commercial building's podium with a captivating identity, we draw from the rich narrative of the adjacent Pottinger Street, also known as the revered Stone Slabs Lane. This storied lane boasts a plethora of steps fashioned in diverse styles, which serves as a formidable source of inspiration for our architectural vision.
To infuse the building's facade with a distinctive character, we draw upon this inspiration to craft a section of the building that features LED lights and a series of unique steps, mirroring the circulation within the building. This design element punctuates the continuous steps of Pottinger Street, creating a compelling contrast that draws the eye.
We have also enlisted the talents of acclaimed artist Joe Yiu, who have created a stunning mural of the Stone Lane on the side of the building that faces this iconic street. This artistic masterpiece will serve as a lasting tribute to the rich legacy of Pottinger Street, while also elevating the aesthetic appeal of the building.

collaboration with Office Urban:i
historic photo of Pottinger Street from oldhkphoto.com

擔負著賦予商業大樓底層裙樓以獨特風貌的使命，我們汲取了毗鄰歷史悠久的砵甸乍街（別名石板街）的傳奇故事。石板街是一條長而多樣化的巷道，擁有不同風格的階梯，成為我們建築設計靈感的可靠來源之一。
為了賦予建築立面獨特的特色，我們運用這份靈感，在建築的立面上設計了一個區域，以LED燈和獨特的階梯為特色，呼應建築內部的流動。這個設計元素突出了石板街的連續階梯，創造了一個引人注目的對比，吸引了人們的目光。
此外，我們邀請了著名藝術家Joe Yiu，在面對這條標誌性街道的建築側面創作了一幅壯麗的石巷壁畫。這件藝術傑作將成為對石板街豐富遺產的永恆致敬，同時提升了建築的美學吸引力。

‘The Pavilion of Rational Mind’ embodies Italian tradition by reducing material to immaterial and transcending generations through its logic. The design is based on the Palladian villa plan and the Vitruvian man, creating a 3-D structure for human movement. Products are displayed within the pavilion using existing sliding panels, which can be curated to suit different needs. After the exhibition, the pavilion can be disassembled and leave no trace. The pavilion is a light yet profound touch on space, tradition, and experience, unmistakably crafted in Italy.

「邏輯之亭」以意大利的理性思維為基礎，將瓷磚產品的價值觀化為三維建築。它受到帕拉第奥的圓廳別墅和達文西的維特魯威人的啟示，以錯綜複雜的形式包含遊人的動態，呈現產品的多重幾何面、功能和傳統意念。滑動展示板提高展示效率，並讓亭子內外的展示場地更具靈活性。展覽結束後，亭子能輕易拆除，不留痕跡，並將場地回復正常。邏輯之亭輕而深刻地觸碰了意念、傳統和經歷，是意大利製造的不二之選。

At the heart of this regional library for primary school students lies a forum for exchanging ideas. Although solitary study and knowledge-seeking are still valued and spaces are provided for such activities, the library of today fosters interactions and exchanges between individuals or between people and digital devices. To facilitate this modern style of learning, a dedicated space has been designed for dynamic activities, comprising almost one-third of the library. This area is equipped for presentations, seminars, teaching, and interactions, and boasts a bespoke ceiling feature with flexible lighting arrangements to accommodate different scenarios.

這個小學區域圖書館的核心是一個交流論壇。儘管獨自學習和尋求知識仍然受到歡迎，並為此提供了場所，但現代圖書館更傾向於促進人與人或人與數位設備之間的互動和交流。這種現代學習方式需要一個專門設計的空間，以促進動態活動，並且近三分之一的圖書館空間被用來作為演講、研討會、教學和互動的場所。該區域設有定制天花板特色和靈活的照明安排，以適應不同的情境。

A temporary recycled workshop.

The space itself is as much a recycled product as the tasks performed in the space, which is a collection and reprocessed workshop for recycled materials. We kept the alterations to minimum, keeping almost all the existing industrial movable cranes, lifting platforms, and steel structures. We redirected the general lighting according to the flow of the recycled process per the layout, combined the original equipment usage with the new, and installed a new entrance made with perforated metal to facilitate airflow to reduce odor and allowed a blurred view of the sometimes chaotic interior. The overall project is done within a tight budget and timeline, an exercise in restrain and control.

The simultaneous er****on of three large spaces - conference hall, indoor ball court, and an indoor pool - presents a unique opportunity: a combined roof space big enough to install a standard competitive running track. The only problem is an existing building in the middle of the site. We decided to tweak the track to pass through the existing building’s structure in two locations and organically integrate the new and the old buildings into a single working entity, using the existing circulation and elevators and regenerate some of the under-utilized spaces inside. The immense roof is topped with a system of circular tubes to minimize the usable area and the loading acting on the long span structure below. The tubes are sometimes skylights, sometimes greenhouses, and sometimes space defining elements.

In collaboration with .architects

The modest size single-space library is conceptualized into a small cottage in a forest, of which natural elements permeate through with a change in scale or proportion, sometimes blown up sometimes shrunk, to provide a room of curiosity and imagination for knowledge seeking.

We wrote about seven of our public artworks over the years in Hong Kong for 《台灣建築雜誌》. Thank you to our great friend

《My District My People 吾區吾民》
Proposal for a public artwork.

Culture represents a conglomeration of aggregated wisdom from the local context, and wisdom comes from distilling the knowledge from our people. Our proposed 「My District My People」 utilizes a collection of five abstract forms of housing developments, each one from our five districts from East Kowloon, coming together to form a coherent whole representing the cradle from which our local people reside.

Spanning across from the 1950s to 2010s, the aggregated form spirals itself vertically towards the sky, looking into the future. The proposed steelbar mesh at once resembles our architecture stripped of its concrete to show its internal strength and at the same time dematerializes the whole sculpture into a gradually changing translucent structure that seems to float rather than to cling with the past. One particular piece, the block that represents the Ngau Tau Kok Lower Estate, extends out to greet our visitors and anchors our site with its former foundation reminding us the people who resided here and contributed to our unique culture of Kowloon East.

The irregular plan was not intentional but rather restricted by the site. What’s intentional was to just extrude the volume and accepts as is instead of an intentional form out of nowhere. Taking the shape and finish all the resulting elevations in a system of straight and slanted fins to regulate views, daylight, and proportion results in an abstract volume that looks different from different angles. Sometimes it’s volumetric, sometimes it’s sharp as a knife, and sometimes it’s phenomenally transparent. With the interplay of the graffiti art behind the fins, the MCF building is a visually ever-changing volume of different proportions and artworks.

A 3000 square feet study of abstraction, shades, volumes, and economy, for a creative agency.

A renovation of a small lobby of a regional mall into a space for the community to rest and chat. The entrance on the slope is framed by a 3-dimensional arrow topped with an oblique placement of the mall’s name for better visibility. The zigzag aesthetics continues into the internal space morphing into the lighting feature on top.

Cemetery day. This architectural stuff is good.

Slicing a wall with glass shelvings.

Yimtintsai Simple Living Experimentation Centre.

With simple living advocate 區紀復’s sketch of his vision, we worked to provide a simple masterplan for the simple living centre close to the salt fields in Yimtintsai, a small island accessible by boat from Saikung, currently enjoying a renew interest as a popular tourist attraction. Our plan includes revitalizing of a simple structure to provide an accessible roof, an access to the salt field, a breakout area, and a kitchen shed. We also provided volunteers to help clearing the fallen trees and shrubs, and the consideration to allow organic growth of the site over time.

Building picture after completion: 食光光

The Necessity of Silence.

Surrounded on all four sides by multiple storeys of classrooms and walkways, the courtyard at the lady shaw building is absurdly public - overly quiet, lack of focal points and vegetations, visually enclosed - students and staffs alike feel the sense of surveillance and constantly have the sense of being monitored.

The potential of the space is being public in the truest sense - a space where you can chitchat without being heard, study comfortably in solitude, or just watch people pass by without the awkwardness of staring - we decided to create a water fountain that provides water sound as a shield for quiet activities, while itself not so much of a landmark or focal point to overpower the space. The fountain stands as a thin wall just enough to allow waterpipes to go up inside, releasing water triggering down the uneven surface to generate gentle and random sound of water. At certain angle the fountain is almost invisible, reducing to merely a line. For the users, this fountain is intended not to be remembered of how it looks, but to be reminded on your memory of a place for studying or hanging out with the music of water splashes.

Proposal for a temporary multipurpose structure in Shumshuipo, March 2019.

普普深水埗-大型展牆

是次項目的主要企劃是做一個時裝表演及展覽，並以此作為整個活動的開幕。我們計劃於南昌街休憩處建成一條樓高三層的大型展牆，讓模特兒及居民於上方作時裝表演，而下方則會成為露天藝廊。藝廊會於藝文月期間被用作時裝展覽，而除實體時裝外，亦會以透明LED幕牆及其他電子產品作展示。同時我們會邀請本地漫畫家於藝廊以電子畫板即興創作，用漫畫紀錄深水埗人的故事，並結集成書出版。香港話劇團亦會創作一齣以時裝及動漫為主題的互動戲劇，邀請市民參與演出。展台亦會變成一塊屬於深水埗人的留言板，GreenTomato會於活動開始約一個月前製作一個專屬手機程式，居民可於程式內留言，我們會於每日的特定時間將其投射於展台上。此三層高的展台於展覽期間會逐星期被拆卸，最後消失不見，以加強「期間限定」的感覺。

Rejuvenating a historic study hall building by introducing a new grand staircase away from the historic facade as a new visiting route. The landscape and the interior are also revamped to reflect the needs of the present time.

Proposal for a hotel lobby.

Our attempt for a drama script with a stage design in mind. Realization indefinite.

A language learning trail in the making

The Qicheng Bashu primary school was designed with a redefined ground plane at +11m connecting all five buildings on a sloped site. The new ground plane unifies the activities within the school on a flexible and reconfigurable leveled public spine. Collaboration