Designer dorms: private student housing opens in Hong Kong’s Tsuen Wan district
Private student housing opens in Hong Kong's Tsuen Wan district

Compact communal living is at the heart of new private student housing in a 12-storey hotel-service apartment building in Hong Kong's Tsuen Wan district, a 30-minute drive from Central. The 48 rooms spread over the three lower floors of the existing building – all designed by LYCS Architecture – cater exclusively for students at nearby universities with beds 'renting' for HK$4,000 a month (including all fees, electricity and water, and a hip 'Campus Guru' concierge service). It's revolutionary stuff for one of the world's most expensive cities.
Each 660 sq ft room sleeps up to four students within an intelligently placed built-in bunk bed layout, each with a steel access ladder, blackout curtain for privacy, electrical wall sockets and a reading light. Micro personal spaces also neatly incorporate a clothes rail, built-in shelves and lockable drawers, along with a built-in desk sporting a multi-socket USB hub.
Inside each apartment, shared facilities are kept to the minimum with a small bathroom, kitchenette and dining table. A Ferrari-red retro refrigerator is a striking addition to the pared-down neutral tones and natural timber palette.
'The aim was to create a very functional space that still provides a sense of privacy and a design edge,' says general manager Peter Pfister. 'It helps that each room has good sea views and high ceilings.'
Other facilities include a contemporary communal lounge sporting graffiti by a local artist, and the hotel's gym, waterfront swimming pool and sun terrace. A ground floor cafe is currently being redesigned by Hong Kong-based practitioner Hernan Zanghellini.
It may be the first of its kind in the city but as local and international students immediately snapped up every bed as they were unveiled this summer, it's unlikely to be the last.
The 48 rooms spread over the three lower floors of the existing building cater exclusively for students at nearby universities with beds 'renting' for HK$4,000 a month
Inside each apartment, shared facilities are kept to the minimum with a small bathroom, kitchenette and dining table
'The aim was to create a very functional space that still provides a sense of privacy and a design edge,' says general manager Peter Pfister. 'It helps that each room has good sea views and high ceilings'
Other facilities include a contemporary communal lounge sporting graffiti by a local artist, and the hotel's gym, waterfront swimming pool and sun terrace
A Ferrari-red retro refrigerator is a striking addition to the pared-down neutral tones and natural timber palette
It may be the first of its kind in the city but as local and international students immediately snapped up every bed as they were unveiled this summer, it is unlikely to be the last
ADDRESS
Campus HK
123 Castle Peak Road
Yau Kom Tau
Tsuen Wan
Hong Kong
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Catherine Shaw is a writer, editor and consultant specialising in architecture and design. She has written and contributed to over ten books, including award-winning monographs on art collector and designer Alan Chan, and on architect William Lim's Asian design philosophy. She has also authored books on architect André Fu, on Turkish interior designer Zeynep Fadıllıoğlu, and on Beijing-based OPEN Architecture's most significant cultural projects across China.
-
A Xingfa cement factory’s reimagining breathes new life into an abandoned industrial site
We tour the Xingfa cement factory in China, where a redesign by landscape specialist SWA Group completely transforms an old industrial site into a lush park
By Daven Wu
-
Put these emerging artists on your radar
This crop of six new talents is poised to shake up the art world. Get to know them now
By Tianna Williams
-
Dining at Pyrá feels like a Mediterranean kiss on both cheeks
Designed by House of Dré, this Lonsdale Road addition dishes up an enticing fusion of Greek and Spanish cooking
By Sofia de la Cruz
-
A Xingfa cement factory’s reimagining breathes new life into an abandoned industrial site
We tour the Xingfa cement factory in China, where a redesign by landscape specialist SWA Group completely transforms an old industrial site into a lush park
By Daven Wu
-
Bold, geometric minimalism rules at Toteme’s new store by Herzog & de Meuron in China
Toteme launches a bold, monochromatic new store in Beijing – the brand’s first in China – created by Swiss architecture masters Herzog & de Meuron
By Ellie Stathaki
-
The upcoming Zaha Hadid Architects projects set to transform the horizon
A peek at Zaha Hadid Architects’ future projects, which will comprise some of the most innovative and intriguing structures in the world
By Anna Solomon
-
Liu Jiakun wins 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize: explore the Chinese architect's work
Liu Jiakun, 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate, is celebrated for his 'deep coherence', quality and transcendent architecture
By Ellie Stathaki
-
Zaha Hadid Architects reveals plans for a futuristic project in Shaoxing, China
The cultural and arts centre looks breathtakingly modern, but takes cues from the ancient history of Shaoxing
By Anna Solomon
-
The Hengqin Culture and Art Complex is China’s newest cultural megastructure
Atelier Apeiron’s Hengqin Culture and Art Complex strides across its waterside site on vast arches, bringing a host of facilities and public spaces to one of China’s most rapidly urbanising areas
By Jonathan Bell
-
The World Monuments Fund has announced its 2025 Watch – here are some of the endangered sites on the list
Every two years, the World Monuments Fund creates a list of 25 monuments of global significance deemed most in need of restoration. From a modernist icon in Angola to the cultural wreckage of Gaza, these are the heritage sites highlighted
By Anna Solomon
-
Tour Xi'an's remarkable new 'human-centred' shopping district with designer Thomas Heatherwick
Xi'an district by Heatherwick Studio, a 115,000 sq m retail development in the Chinese city, opens this winter. Thomas Heatherwick talks us through its making and ambition
By David Plaisant