In early September, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) officially opened its new, KPF-designed campus in Nansha, Guangzhou (GZ). The carbon-neutral-ready campus was planned, designed, and built in three years’ time, with a project team comprising over 70 architects and planners across KPF offices in New York, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
The project’s first phase includes nearly 6 million square feet (about 550,000 square meters) for over 4,000 graduate students and 400 faculty members. It provides research facilities for subjects such as robotics and autonomous systems, smart manufacturing and transportation, microelectronics, and atmosphere and ocean systems.
Rather than following a traditional academic structure based on schools and disciplines, HKUST(GZ) centers around a project-based learning model that encourages multi-disciplinary interactions. The campus features eight research and lab buildings, connected by shaded arcades, and a full range of teaching spaces, including seminar classrooms, labs, large lecture halls, maker spaces, and collaborative workspaces.
“Landscape and building spaces come together to create an atmosphere where scientists will be energized and inspired to innovate,” James von Klemperer, KPF president, said in a statement.
From day one, HKUST(GZ) achieves a 54 percent reduction of carbon emissions, with a goal of reaching carbon neutrality before 2060. The plan’s environmental and resiliency measures have been designed for Guangzhou’s hot, humid climate and the rapidly urbanizing area’s flooding, seismic, and climate change risks.
When complete, the campus will accommodate more than 10,000 students and faculty. And it will integrate teaching and learning facilities with housing, neighborhood and campus retail, student life programs, administration, hotel, office and incubator spaces, and athletics facilities.
The HKUST(GZ) campus adds to KPF’s portfolio of research, innovation, and academic facilities around the world, including the CUNY Advanced Science Research Centers in New York City, the University of Michigan’s Detroit Center for Innovation, and NYU’s new Qiantan campus in Shanghai.
On the Building Team:
Owner: Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Design architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF)
Architect of record: SCAD (Architectural Design & Research Institute of South China University of Technology Co.)
MEP engineer: ARUP
Structural engineer: ARUP
Landscape design: James Corner Field Operations
General contractor/construction manager: central hub: China Railway First Group Co. and China Railway Guangzhou Engineering Group Co.; other areas:
Canton One Construction Group Co. and Guangzhou Construction Engineering Co.
Related Stories
University Buildings | Jul 11, 2024
3 considerations for designing healthy, adaptable student dining
Amanda Vigneau, IIDA, NCDIQ, LEED ID+C, Director, Shepley Bulfinch, shares three ways student dining facilities have evolved to match changes in student life.
Laboratories | Jul 3, 2024
New science, old buildings: Renovating for efficiency, flexibility, and connection
What does the research space of the future look like? And can it be housed in older buildings—or does it require new construction?
University Buildings | Jun 28, 2024
The American University in Cairo launches a 270,000-sf expansion of its campus in New Cairo, Egypt
In New Cairo, Egypt, The American University in Cairo (AUC) has broken ground on a roughly 270,000-sf expansion of its campus. The project encompasses two new buildings intended to enhance the physical campus and support AUC’s mission to provide top-tier education and research.
University Buildings | Jun 18, 2024
UC Riverside’s new School of Medicine building supports team-based learning, showcases passive design strategies
The University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine has opened the 94,576-sf, five-floor Education Building II (EDII). Created by the design-build team of CO Architects and Hensel Phelps, the medical school’s new home supports team-based student learning, offers social spaces, and provides departmental offices for faculty and staff.
Headquarters | Jun 5, 2024
Several new projects are upgrading historic Princeton, N.J.
Multifamily, cultural, and office additions are among the new construction.
Mass Timber | May 31, 2024
Mass timber a big part of Western Washington University’s net-zero ambitions
Western Washington University, in Bellingham, Wash., 90 miles from Seattle, is in the process of expanding its ABET-accredited programs for electrical engineering, computer engineering and science, and energy science. As part of that process, the university is building Kaiser Borsari Hall, the 54,000-sf new home for those academic disciplines that will include teaching labs, research labs, classrooms, collaborative spaces, and administrative offices.
Products and Materials | May 31, 2024
Top building products for May 2024
BD+C Editors break down May's top 15 building products, from Durat and CaraGreen's Durat Plus to Zurn Siphonic Roof Drains.
University Buildings | May 30, 2024
Washington University School of Medicine opens one of the world’s largest neuroscience research buildings
In St. Louis’ Cortex Innovation District, Washington University School of Medicine recently opened its new Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building. Designed by CannonDesign and Perkins&Will, the 11-story, 609,000-sf facility is one of the largest neuroscience buildings in the world.
University Buildings | May 10, 2024
UNC Chapel Hill’s new medical education building offers seminar rooms and midsize classrooms—and notably, no lecture halls
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has unveiled a new medical education building, Roper Hall. Designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM) and Flad Architects, the UNC School of Medicine’s new building intends to train new generations of physicians through dynamic and active modes of learning.
Student Housing | May 3, 2024
Student housing construction dips in the first quarter of 2024
Investment in college dorms dipped slightly in the first quarter of 2024, but remains higher than a year ago.
