BARRIE HO Architecture Interiors

Head office: 19/F Wyndham Place, 44 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2117 7662 Fax: +852 2117 7661 Email: pr@barrieho.com Website: www.barrieho.com

Key staff:

Barrie Ho Founder and director Angie Pi Director of architecture

Have the events of 2020 affected or influenced your design philosophy?

The notion of change is part of our philosophy; it has always spurred and encouraged our growth and gains in strength daily. We treasure change. It fosters opportunities and chance, and in fact sparked our new development in Australia, which is evolving rapidly and significantly.

Will design awards continue to be important to your business?

‘Encouragement’ and ‘courage’ are keys to success. Design awards are the fundamental expression of recognition; encouraging, giving courage to and even enforcing our core value of design perfection. Design is never a business — design is an attitude. Our vision, mission and passion shall prevail.

Project: Extension of Qian Hai Creative Youth E-Dream Factory (Phase 2) @ Qian Hai, Shenzhen, China Location: Shenzhen, China Client: Shenzhen Qian Hai Development and Investment Award won: Achievement Forum, Achievement Awards 2020 Project leader: Barrie Ho Design team: Angie Pi, Solomon Au, Rex Cheuk, Jason Xu, Lawrence Choi Completed: 2020

The architectural language of the Qian Hai Creative Youth Entrepreneurship Dream Factory designed in 2014-15 is based on the concept of non-traditional, non-conservative, transforming, non-conventional and non-typical design.

The original concept to introduce black, white and grey as the major architectural colours provides a metaphor of a blank canvas for the youth to put colour on to enrich their own lives. It also expressed the notion that while the Qian Hai Authority would provide essential resources, the youth would have to accomplish their dreams by way of their own hard work and wisdom.

The new extension for Qian Hai Creative Youth Entrepreneurship Dream Factory is an attempt to redefine the new needs of youth entrepreneurship in diverse and holistic ways. A brand new square is introduced onto the original path of the original plan, which was originally defined as the Backyard Garden, thereby creating a new main entrance for the development.

Green architecture and environmentally sensitive elements are introduced to the development, taking a holistic approach. The extension includes the Institutional Block, while the other side of the new youth square provides an advanced level Accelerator Block housing new laboratories and research centres.

Project: Accelerator Block — Extension of Qian Hai Creative Youth E-Dream Factory (Phase 2) @ Qian Hai, Shenzhen, China Location: Shenzhen, China Client: Shenzhen Qian Hai Development and Investment Award won: Achievement Forum, Achievement Awards 2020 Project leader: Barrie Ho Design team: Angie Pi, Solomon Au, Rex Cheuk, Jason Xu, Lawrence Choi Completed: 2020 The design attempt of the Accelerator block is based on the subtle and invisible continuity of axiality depicted in the first phase, whereby two invisible axialities have been extended as the major connectivity to the extension.

The ambiguity and the paradox of the new entrance has been redefined to phase 2, directly facing the main traffic access of Menghai Avenue. Therefore, the original backyard in phase 1 has been redefined and reintroduced as a new entrance to the development.

Occupying a significant corner site, the Accelerator block accommodates a higher level of business and research facilities. Conceived as a comet landing on Earth, it features a raised contemporary quadrangle and has a double skin structure. The outer skin provides the first layer of shielding from heat gain, providing cross ventilation to the inner quadrangle and other spaces as an energy saving environment.