Cheung Chau Community Center Part 1 Project 2013 Tong Hei Chinese University of Hong Kong | China The Concept of the Cheung Chau Community Center revolves around the idea of an ‘Interlocking Urban Fabrics’. The project began in the investigation of the ‘Urban Fabrics’ of the Cheung Chau island, a total of four types of fabrics were classified, they are: Linear, Linear Cluster, Clustered and Scattered. Each fabric in fact suggests different kinds of life style within the small town. For example, Linear fabrics consisted of buildings that open up its ground floor as a permeable shop space, a buy and sell relationship between Cheung Chau locals and tourists. In contrast to this merchandized fabric is the scattered fabrics, where unorganized settlements sits on mountain sides, a place of higher privacy and local resident user oriented. After such studies, one could ask, what happens at the edges of these fabric types? Such condition existed at site of the design; it is a site where the locals meet the tourists, where one understands other’s lifestyle through their eyes, where the fabrics ‘interlock’. The form of the design responds to its context sensitively, for example, three distinguishing open spaces were designed as part of the entrance to the building, the programs of each plaza evolves from the nearby fabric typology. Plazas such as: Outdoor local delicacy eating plaza (located at seaside restaurants), Market plazas (located at shop house fabrics area) and communal plaza (located at the embracing center of building). The form of the building encourages ‘visual permeability’ throughout visitor’s journey, by maintaining a visual connection in-between different program space. The programs within the building involves activities of both locals and visitors, by having such high visual permeability inside the building, the relationship between the two bodies becomes more ‘interlocked’, not just a merchandized relationship. The central communal plaza, attempts to push this concept further. The architecture itself wraps around the communal plaza, providing both viewing decks as well as openings, acting like the seats of the auditorium. Rentable by the public, both local and foreign festivities, ceremonies, game shows, for once can now be enjoyed under the same roof, improving visitor’s exposure to one another’s life style. Tong Hei Tutor(s) Thomas Wang Leung Chung