The Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design’s Innovation Tower finally opened to staff and students last month.
Construction for the Tower, which has been renamed the Jockey Club Innovation Tower following a HK$249 million donation by the Hong Kong Jockey Club that was also used to set up the Jockey Club Design Institute for Social Innovation (JCDISI) housed at the Tower, began in 2009.
The fifteen-storey structure provides a 15,000 square metres of floor area, accommodating up to 1,800 staff and students per day. It was designed by Zaha Hadid, the first female to be awarded with the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004.
Inside the Tower are public-oriented spaces including a design museum and exhibition hall. Lecture theatres, classrooms, studios, workshops, and labs occupy much of the other space.
The Tower is being touted as the new driving force in the development of Hong Kong as a design hub in Asia, and also as the space to facilitate inter-disciplinary research and education in the field of design, not only as a driver for the Hong Kong economy but for its potential to contribute to better quality of life and sustainable development in society.
Already the JCDISI hosted a Social Innovation Festival as the university positions itself in the community to promote positive social change.
Photos from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design.
