Architecture + Design
May 2023
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A communal youth hostel pencil tower in Sai Ying Poon.
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To optimize the use of space in the floors to attain “Compact Living”, a triangular grid is used to create a compact interior organization. By exploring the geometry of the tower to the greatest advantage, the boundaries of communal programs are deliberately blurred while each individual program is pushed to the largest dimensions as far as possible. As a result, it creates a flexible use of space in communal areas. Geometrix: A youth hostel design that forms from triangular grids, creating diagonals, angled spaces instead of rectangular. This creates a new personality to Sai Ying Poon.
In this youth hostel and café, outdoor and indoor space is on a one-to-one ratio. Outdoor spaces can be used as free space. While in the indoor spaces, they are mostly bedrooms and shared common area. The shared space in this hostel is in the majority, thus, to foster exchange of cultural knowledge between different people. There are different hostel floor types, where some outdoor spaces are direct, and some are private. This creates different personalities and living styles of floors in the same hostel.
