The Wallflower Music Hall – Alliance Primary School Kowloon Tong Extension

Hong Kong buildings are infamously densely built and schools like APS are no different. It followed a hall-mark school typology back-then: a multi-storied building where only a 200 sq.m courtyard served as its aperture for sunlight. The only outdoor space for the school will be its courtyard, it was also where we would build over with the music hall. We do not wish to sacrifice this precious out-door space. Thus, we hovered the music hall above the courtyard, which would retain the courtyard space by converting it into a semi-outdoor auditorium and playground area, hence gaining a music hall.

At first, we wish to build with glass, so that sunlight may still reach the classrooms in the existing building. Glass is not acoustically favoured for a music hall, so we must explore alternatives. Eventually, we have landed on a steel cladding/steel structure option. BIM and computational design enabled us to build an irregular steel structure where its gently curved surfaces may glide against the existing building with grace.

I was educated in an all-boys catholic school back in the 1980s: a brutalist, cold, sleek, and deadly efficient school. There was an elevated platform in the courtyard, where the principal may stand above everyone to spot any mischievous deeds during assemblies and recesses. Back then, schools stood for disciplines, not happiness. APS felt that music is integral for children’s development, it has a great student orchestra and it has been a cradle for young musicians. Yet, APS never had a dedicated rehearsal space. Perhaps our interventions for APS may signify how education in the 21st Century may have evolved.

We do not wish to sacrifice the precious outdoor space of the courtyard. Thus, we hovered the music hall above the courtyard, which would retain the courtyard space by converting it into a semi-outdoor auditorium and playground area, hence gaining a music hall. The two structures - the new and the old, the curved and the rigid – are in dialogues with each other, while the gaps between the two contrasting structures would allow sunlight, wind and even rain to season the school. The rooftop was designed to be beautiful too, so that it may serve as an “artificially natural” landscape that would ritualize the extension without comprising their overall aesthetics. Sometimes, some contrasts are good; some rebellious designs are good. The music hall interiors are lined with acoustic panels that are overlaid by semi-transparent chiffon. The chiffons would veil the acoustic panels underneath. It has been a few months since the music hall starts to operate and we have the fortune to witness its actions. We see children playing “tag” (chasing game) even over in a rainy day underneath the music hall. We see children inventing new games over the new floor patterns that we have designed.