Innovation Tower

The Jockey Club Innovation Tower (JCIT) in Hong Kong dissolves the typical typology of the tower/podium into a more fluid composition. Interior and exterior courtyards create informal spaces to meet and interact, complementing the large exhibition forums, studios, theatre and recreational facilities.

Students, staff and visitors move through 15 levels of studios, workshops, labs, exhibition and event areas within the school. Interior glazing and voids bring transparency and connectivity, while circulation routes and communal spaces have been arranged to encourage interaction between the many learning clusters and design disciplines.

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Zaha Hadid Architects 04 Jockey Club Innovation Tower, Hong Kong Polytechnic University 01 02 The Jockey Club Innovation Tower (JCIT) is home to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) School of Design, and the Jockey Club Design Institute for Social Innovation.

The 15-storey, 15,000 sq. m. tower accommodates more than 1,800 students and staff, with facilities for design education and innovation that include: design studios, labs and workshops, exhibition areas, multi-functional classrooms, lecture theatre and communal lounge.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University campus has developed its urban fabric over the last 50 years with the university’s many faculties housed in visually coherent, yet very different buildings. The JCIT creates a new urban space that enriches the diversity of university life and expresses the dynamism of an institution looking to the future.

Located on a narrow, irregular site at the northeastern tip of the university campus (bordered by the university’s football ground to the south, and the Chatham Road/ Kowloon Corridor motorway interchange to the north), the JCIT is connected to the heart of the campus; encouraging the university’s various faculties and schools to develop multidisciplinary initiatives and engagement with the community, government, industry, NGO’s and academia.

The JCIT design dissolves the typical typology of the tower/podium into a more fl uid composition. Interior and exterior courtyards create informal spaces to meet and interact, complementing the large exhibition forums, studios, theatre and recreational facilities.

The tower’s design promotes a multidisciplinary environment by connecting the variety of programs within the School of Design; establishing a collective research culture where many contributions and innovations can feed off each other.

Students, staff and visitors move through 15 levels of studios, workshops, labs, exhibition and event areas within the school. Interior glazing and voids bring transparency and connectivity, while circulation routes and communal spaces have been arranged to encourage interaction between the many learning clusters and design disciplines.

With its contribution of HK$249 million towards the construction of JCIT, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust also funds the Jockey Club Design Institute for Social Innovation.

The chair model, studied by the Zaha Hadid design team combines simplicity with modernity. It is the result of advanced technology combined with highly skilled workmanship, rigorous safety testing and expertise in auditorium and theatre acoustics. 

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01. THE PROJECT

The Jockey Club Innovation Tower is home to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design and is the new driving force in the development of Hong Kong as a design hub in Asia.The Tower is located at the northeastern tip of the university campus and designed by Pritzker-prize-winning architect Zaha Hadid.

It has 15,000 square metres of net floor area and can accommodate about 1,800 staff and students. It houses 10 classrooms, design studios and workshops, as well as exhibition spaces and a lecture hall of 300 seats: a state of art auditorium, displaying Hadid’s signature concentric forms.

02. THE DESIGN

“The fluid character of the Innovation Tower is generated through an intrinsic composition of its landscape, floor plates and louvers that dissolves the classic typology of the tower into an iconic seamless piece. These fluid internal and external courtyards create new public spaces of an intimate scale which complement the large open exhibition forums and outdoor recreational facilities to promote a diversity of civic spaces.” - Zaha Hadid, Architect, Innovation Tower.

The Tower houses the School of Design and support the development of its specialisms: Advertising Design,Communication Design, Environment and Interior Design, Product Design, as well as Digital and Interactive Media. It provides a congenial environment to support staff and students in their pursuit of excellence.

For Poltrona Frau ContractDivisionit is another extraordinary project signed by Zaha Hadid. The chair model is studied by Zaha Hadid design team andperfectly combines simplicity withmodernity.It is the result of the most advanced technology combined with highly skilled workmanship, rigorous safety testing and expertise in auditorium and theatre acoustics. The mastery of craft achieved by the Poltrona Frau Contract team ensures that our products express the designer’s creativity down to the finest detail. The focus is always on providing a finely tailored product and service that includes all stages from the engineering to the prototype, installation and post-sales assistance.

Steelcase furniture was used throughout the JCIT, but perhaps most notable are the Node chairs in the classrooms, a simple choice which enabled the Design School to revolutionize modes of teaching.

Castors make it possible to move from lecture mode to team-based learning, and back, in moments. The swivel seat allows students to easily rotate and view information being shared throughout the classroom. The open seat design enables them to change postures and positions, offering comfort in multiple settings. And the integrated bag storage means students can keep their bags, books and gear close at hand, and out of the way, at all times.

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The recently opened Innovation Tower, which houses the School of Design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University is a 13-floor case study of Steelcase furniture in the education environment. The striking building, designed by renowned British architect Zaha Hadid, is home to some 1800 students each day, features Steelcase furniture throughout the building including classrooms, project rooms, design studio, staff office, and meeting rooms.

Yet, perhaps the most dynamic example of change in the new building is the choice of Node chairs in the classrooms, a simple choice which enabled the Design School to revolutionize modes of teaching. In the previous building, students sat in traditional chairs in a static learning environment. The Node supports a variety of student learning styles by allowing quick and seamless transitions from one teaching mode to the next, creating flexible and barrier-free classrooms.

The castors make it possible to move from lecture mode to team-based learning, and back, in moments. The swivel seat allows students to easily rotate and view information being shared throughout the classroom. The open seat design enables them to change postures and positions, offering comfort in multiple settings. And the integrated bag storage means students can keep their bags, books and gear close at hand, and out of the way, at all times.