Client
The Repulse Bay - a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited
Location
Repulse Bay, Hong Kong
Type
37-Story, 49-Unit Serviced Apartment
Description
In 2011 davidclovers was engaged to begin work on The Repulse Bay’s De Ricou tower and asked to develop the tower as the complex's signature residential property. The project demanded a completely new concept and identity for an existing structure. The original tower, a repetitious, sheer wall structure, contained four similar types of unit. A new set of varied unit configurations was developed by altering the existing structure – simultaneously subtracting from, and reinforcing it. The exercise demanded meticulous attention to capitalize on and use the existing structure, yet make it feel like it was entirely new. The design demonstrates a robust capacity to blend, mix and alter. It uses a combination of high and low-tech construction techniques to enhance and affect the entire building. The five new layouts, accommodating forty-nine apartments, are designed to harness the sweeping views of Repulse Bay. The design builds on the existing identity and history of De Ricou. The curves of The Repulse Bay's logo, its fleur de lis background and the curvilinear arc of the overall development, informs the tower's new spatial identity. The design’s signature is a texture of crisp plaster and warm oak wood that permeates from the ground floor into each apartment, producing newly connected experiences between common areas and units, and across floors and walls. While addressing the many constraints of the different types of spaces, the design delicately brings together areas that were previously unassociated. Lift lobbies resonate with units, and units resonate with the lobby. The combination of wood and plaster is carried throughout the tower, releasing vertical spatial impressions; some intense, others subdued. This three-dimensional and sectional approach offers a holistic re-conception of the building. By re-working the tower’s infrastructure, modifying the existing superstructure and altering the enclosure, the design dilates the space and perception of the building. At each scale the design blends the existing and the new, architecture and landscape, and the vertical and the horizontal, to culminate in a rich and varied ensemble of experiences.