Firm： The Jerde Partnership

Type： Commercial › Office Retail Shopping Mall Hospitality + Sport › Hotel

YEAR： 2005

Known for its diverse markets and frenetic street life, Mongkok is one of Hong Kong's most visited shopping districts, attracting residents and tourists alike. In 1988, redevelopment was initiated on a four-block site at the heart of Mongkok that was dominated by aging low-rise housing. Developer Great Eagle Holdings Ltd envisioned for the site a mixed-use project that would serve as an economic catalyst to revitalize the entire district. Langham Place builds on and evolves Mongkok's appeal by supplementing the low-to-mid retail market with high-quality tenants and adding the area's first five-star hotel and class-A office tower. When the developer appointed Jerde to create a site-sensitive solution for the retail center, the firm responded with a design that blends into and vertically extends Mongkok's vibrant street experience. To draw people into the project, Jerde incorporated multiple entrances from the surrounding streets and subway stations and designed a fissured stone facade and nine-story glass atrium that would reveal activity within to passersby. Innovative circulation techniques, such as multi-level expresscalators and a spiraling retail-lined path, move people effortlessly among the 15-level center's 300 shops and restaurants. A continuous multi-media show projected onto the ceiling of the atrium invites people within the project and on the streets below to enjoy the dining and entertainment hub on the uppermost levels. Since its soft opening in December 2004, an estimated 100,000 people have visited Langham Place per day, and the cinema has become Hong Kong's highest grossing in terms of total visitors, total revenues and revenue per seat.