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
-
A celestial New York exhibition showcases Roman and Williams’ mastery of lightingLauded design studio Roman and Williams is exhibiting 100 variations of its lighting ‘family tree’ inside a historic Tribeca space
-
‘He immortalised the birth of the supermodel’: inside Dior’s career-spanning retrospective of photographer Peter LindberghOlivier Flaviano, curator and head of Paris’ La Galerie Dior, talks us through a new Peter Lindbergh retrospective, which celebrates the seminal German photographer’s longtime relationship with the French house
-
Take a bite: Laila Gohar and The Luxury Collection’s ‘Cakes & Candles’ are a sweet treat for the sensesLaila Gohar’s six cake-inspired candles draw on The Luxury Collection’s hotels around the world – where guests can enjoy matching edible confections
-
Raw, refined and dynamic: A-Cold-Wall*’s new Shanghai store is a fresh take on the industrial lookA-Cold-Wall* has a new flagship store in Shanghai, designed by architecture practice Hesselbrand to highlight positive spatial and material tensions
-
Sun Tower is a new Chinese cultural attraction that draws on the celestial cycleSun Tower, an imaginative cultural attraction by Open Architecture, draws on the natural cycle and has just opened in China's seaside town of Yantai
-
The Suzhou visitor centre in China is a perfect balance of contemporary innovation and cultural identityThe Suzhou visitor centre in China is designed by Tsing-Tien Making, a studio that designs to preserve cultural identity
-
Architectural Association's newest show uncovers the architectural legacies of rural China's lost generationThe Architectural Association’s ‘Ripple Ripple Rippling’ is not your typical architecture show, taking an anthropological look at the flux between rural and urban, and bringing a part of China to Bedford Square in London
-
Private museum Simple Design Archive is a ‘poetic sound sanctuary’ in ChinaSimple Design Archive, located in China’s Anhui province, is a private museum by HAS Design and Research, fostering a contemplative environment
-
Neri & Hu’s dynamic New Bund theatre takes centre stage in Shanghai’s cityscapeIn Shanghai, Neri & Hu’s New Bund 31 Performing Arts Center is a theatre offering a contemporary take on a classical archetype
-
The Henderson by ZHA in Hong Kong makes everyone sit up and pay attentionThe Henderson, ZHA's new high-rise in Hong Kong, stands out in its coveted address through its unusual, fluted façade of glass columns
-
Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: meet the practicesIn the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024, our latest guide to exciting, emerging practices from around the world, 20 young studios show off their projects and passion
