Creative Media Centre, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

The new Creative Media Centre (CMC) for the City University of Hong Kong is currently under construction and is scheduled for opening in 2011. The new facility enables the university to become the first in Asia to offer the highest level of education and training in the creative media field.

The new centre will include a school of creative media, the centre for media technology and the department of computer engineering and information technology. The building was designed in a competition run in 2002, which was won by Studio Daniel Libeskind.

The new 273,000ft² building, which started in October 2004, will be located in Cornwall Street in the Kowloon Tong area of Hong Kong.

The centre will consist of an academic facility, using Government funding of HK$550m, and a public outreach centre for which private funding of HK$200m is being sought.

Creative Media Centre contractors

Studio Daniel Libeskind is working with Leigh & Orange Architects as associate architect and joint venture partner.

Arup, from its London and Hong Kong offices, is providing structural, geotechnical and building services and a range of engineering services including civil, traffic, audio visual, acoustics, fire and environmental.

Town planning was provided by EDAW. The lead contractor is China Resources Construction.

City Planning Consultants of Hong Kong provided planning services and the quantity surveyors are Levett and Bailey of Hong Kong.

The landscape architect is ADI Limited of Hong Kong.

Design of Creative Media Centre

The distinctive crystalline design of the new nine-storey building will serve as an architectural icon for the new media departments.

The building was designed with an extraordinary range of spaces rich in form, light and material, which will create an inspiring environment for research and creativity. Internal spaces were designed specifically to encourage collaboration through an openness and connectivity of the activity area.

The structure is made up of steel and concrete with ceramic tile cladding. It reflects the Chinese culture.

The centre will also provide an exciting place for visitors, who will enjoy the facilities as part of an extended public outreach programme of courses and events.

Private landscaped gardens to the north of the building will be available for students and public alike.

Facilities

Facilities of the Creative Media Centre include a multipurpose theatre, sound stages, laboratories, classrooms, studios, library, study areas, exhibition spaces, and a cafe and restaurant.

The centre will also be a testing ground for the creative and digital production companies that provide jobs and are forming a new engine of growth in Hong Kong's knowledge-based economy.

The creative industry accounts for over 90,000 jobs, some 4.5% of employment in Hong Kong's service sector.