Ko Shan Theatre New Wing | Ronald Lu & Partners

A THEATRE INSIDE A PARK – ENVIRONMENTALLY & SOCIALLY RESPONSIVE STRATEGY FOR AN UNIQUE URBAN PARK CONTEXT The theatre negotiates harmoniously with the park’s existing topography, preserving the mature precious trees. External timber-outlook sun-shading fins, metaphorically representing the existing tree-scape, dematerialize the building massing and blend subtly into the surrounding nature’s scale, textures and colours. A “Green Trail” connects the at-grade park vertically with the lavishly-landscaped terraces, a tea-house, an Exhibition Gallery, a Cantonese-Opera Information Centre and a roof garden - “Moon Lawn”; offering an unique cultural experience to the community. A PARK INSIDE A THEATRE – BORROWING OUTDOOR NATURE INTO THE INTERIOR The auditorium is surrounded in 180-degree by the curvilinear foyer – a lofty public realm borrowing the surrounding park environment into the theatre interior, which is analogous to the “view-borrowing technique” in traditional Chinese courtyard design. Natural daylight, sound, breeze and scenery are captured through the high-performance glazed building enclosure via the sun-shading fins, and the electrically-operated windows that can be automatically opened when the foyer operates in a free-cooling-ventilation mode under favourable weather conditions to minimize energy consumption. GREEN REGENERATION The project successfully revitalizes the park’s role as a major public amenity facility by transforming the formerly four-tennis-court site into a public park + 600-seat theatre for the enjoyment of general public. It also adds on more green elements to the existing park like a green trail, green terraces, a sizable green roof garden and achieving a 32% green roof coverage.