Construction of the Multi-welfare Services Complex (“the Complex”) in Kwu Tung North (KTN) is one of the pilot government projects for the implementation of the KTN New Development Area (NDA). The project will not only provide residential care services for the elderly, disabled persons and mentally handicapped persons, but also offer reprovisioning for the eligible elderly residents living in the existing residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) in the Dills Corner Garden (DCG) affected by the KTN NDA development. This time, I have invited two colleagues from the Architectural Services Department (ArchSD) to tell us how to provide a comfortable living environment to the occupants under the principle of “people-centric design” in the areas of construction, design and service provision.

Opening of the eight-storey Complex in the mid of next year

The eight-storey Complex, with a gross floor area of about 44 000 square metres, is being constructed at the site in Area 29 of the KTN NDA. The works commenced at the end of 2019. Currently, the Complex has been built up to the rooftop and is expected to commission in the mid of next year.

Offering about 1 750 residential care places for the elderly

According to Ms KWAN Kit-ling, Xenia, Senior Project Manager of the ArchSD, the major facilities of the Complex will include a Day Activity Centre cum Hostel for Severely Mentally Handicapped Persons and a Care and Attention Home for Severely Disabled Persons on the ground floor. Day Care Units for the Elderly will be provided on the first and second floors. About 1 750 places for the elderly will also be provided from the first to the seventh floors. These facilities will be operated and managed by various non-government organisations or private operators. The Complex will also provide other ancillary facilities, such as outdoor landscaped area, rooftop garden, loading and unloading bay, etc.

“Tree of Wisdom” as its main theme

With ageing population, whether the services of RCHEs can meet the demand of the elderly to enable them to lead an enjoyable life is no doubt a topic of major concern in Hong Kong. The project team has given much thought to the interior design of the Complex with “Tree of Wisdom” as its main theme. The different types of fruit motifs featured on various floors symbolize the results of wealth of knowledge gained along the way by the elderly, whereas the facade of the Complex will be designed in bright colour with green and brown representing the leaves and branches of the “Tree of Wisdom”.

Collecting views of “aged friends”

Ms Xenia KWAN says that during the early stage of the construction works, many non-profit making social welfare organisations, representatives of the operator of the Complex and carers for the elderly were invited to join the engagement workshops with the project team via online consultation. The project team also conducted face-to-face experience sharing with the elderly to collect their views. As a result, a majority of “aged friends” chose fruit motifs in different colours as the themes for various floors, just in line with the proposed design concept of the project team. Finally the architects decided to adopt seven different fruit motifs in seven pastel colours for various floors. Coupled with carefully designed furniture and fitting-out, the overall design can create a warm and comfortable ambience.

Creating a natural and comfortable environment

In addition, since the Complex is situated adjacent to Fanling Highway, in order to mitigate the noise affecting the living premises and maximise green areas, it is designed in H-shape and divided into east and west wings connected by a central core. Architectural fins will be installed on the external walls to effectively shield the traffic noise. Other areas will be covered with green elements, offering two large landscaped areas on the north and south parts of the Complex. Taking advantage of the natural scenery outside the Complex, the project team will let sunlight in with natural ventilation to create a natural and comfortable environment.

Building with MiC

In recent years, many construction projects have adopted innovative and advanced technologies. Miss LIU Wing-yan, Works Supervisor II (Building) of the ArchSD, says that the Complex, consisted of more than 1 700 Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) modules. MIC adopts the concept of "factory assembly followed by on-site installation" and the construction processes are transferred to a controlled factory environment for prefabrication, the modules are then transported to construction sites for assembly in a way like piling up building blocks. This effectively improves productivity, site safety, better quality control and shorten the construction time. The project team also adopts Multi-trade Integrated Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MiMEP) with electrical and mechanical trunking added to the ceiling of corridors.

Using Enertainers to achieve zero carbon emission

Besides, the project team adopts Enertainers to operate four heavy tower cranes for lifting and assembling MiC modules so as to reduce the air and noise pollution caused by diesel generators, bringing a quieter and safer site with zero carbon emission. Meanwhile, to safeguard workers’ health, the contractor has procured an air disinfection robot (Mist-bot) to disinfect the construction site area and workers’ canteen on a regular basis. The contractor also adopts an automated material delivery robot to assist workers in transporting heavy materials. As a result, the transportation time can be reduced and avoid injuries of the workers caused by manual handling.

In order to attain “people-centric” concept, I know the ArchSD and the Social Welfare Department have been striving to introduce smart facilities for the Complex , such as equipping it with stable, secure and scalable digital technology infrastructure in order to meet the future development of smart elderly home system. I hope the application of innovative technology facilities will provide a safer, more convenient and comfortable living environment for the elderly, putting their relatives more at ease and reducing the workload of the staff of the Complex.