PRESS RELEASE

Kai Tak Sports Park Unveils the ‘Enchanting Pearl’ on Victoria Harbour with the Completion of Main Stadium Exterior Building Façade Panels

February 19, 2024

(19 February 2024, Hong Kong) Kai Tak Sports Park, the spectacular sports and entertainment destination, has marked a significant milestone today with the successful completion of the Main Stadium exterior building façade panels. This momentous accomplishment represents a truly world-class architecture feat and iconic structure that adds to the new skyline of the Victoria Harbour at Hong Kong Kowloon East, and is a magnificent sight to behold.

 

Designed with the captivating theme “Pearl of the Orient”, the Main Stadium proudly showcases a meticulously crafted surface formed by about 27,000 aluminium panels as part of the multi-layered façade, each tactfully shaped into signature design triangular pieces, adding to its unique visual appeal. The unique colour of façade design is capable of shifting to different colour hues including mountain blue, metallic purple, metallic silver and other colours depending on the degrees of brightness of natural daylight. This transformative feature lends a contemporary and cosmopolitan aura to the district. Leveraging pioneering proprietary coating technology, the “pearlescent” coloured panel surfaces have been endowed with self-cleaning capabilities and long-lasting durability, effectively combating the impact of dust and rainwater on the exterior walls. This represents an unsurpassed commitment to design excellence, functional superiority and advancements in industry technology, boasting a bold mix of sophistication and modernity in a truly exceptional manner.

 

Throughout the course of the design and construction process, the project team actively employed various advanced digital technologies for incorporation into a comprehensive Building Information Model (BIM). This model served as a robust platform for data analysis and verification, seamlessly integrating all facets of the exterior façades, including the external structure, dimensions of triangular panels, and other related building components, such as glass wall and LED façade lighting, etc. Through a process of meticulous adjustments and refinements to the actual dimensions and installation positions of the triangular panels, the team successfully reduced the original panel quantity of over 47,000 panels to just 27,000 panels for this 50,000-seat Main Stadium. This accomplishment serves as a distinctive illustration of our adherence to the 3S concept of Standardization, Simplification, and Single Integrated Element during the planning design and construction process, with a view to enhancing efficiency of work execution, minimizing the need for extensive field works and ensuring effective budget control. With these measures, installation of the façade panels for the entire Main Stadium only took just eight months.

 

In anticipation of the substantial completion of nearly 85 percent of the construction works, the Kai Tak Sports Park is now stepping into its final stage of construction. Kai Tak Sports Park is poised to become a vibrant and magnetic sports hub in the near future for promoting sports in the community, supporting elite sports and promoting Hong Kong as a centre for major international sports events. Distinguished by a wide variety of international standard sports facilities and captivating design, the Park will become one of the unparalleled sports infrastructures for hosting the highly anticipated 15th National Games in 2025 jointly hosted by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau.

 

John SHARKEY, Project Director of Kai Tak Sports Park said, “The completion of the exterior wall works at Kai Tak Sports Park represents a remarkable milestone, showcasing our project team’s unwavering commitment to excellence and their relentless pursuit of creating a world-class sports and entertainment destination. This achievement not only transforms the iconic skyline of Victoria Harbour but also signifies significant progress towards our vision of establishing a premier sports hub. Anticipating the arrival of athletes, sports enthusiasts, and visitors from around the globe, we eagerly look forward to sharing the extraordinary allure of Kai Tak Sports Park.”

 

As the largest sports infrastructure project in Hong Kong, the major facilities within the precinct are expected to be completed in phases by the end of 2024 for opening in 2025. We look forward to staging a diverse range of year-round mega sports and entertainment events in Hong Kong for years to come.

 

About Kai Tak Sports Park

Kai Tak Sports Park is a fully integrated sports, leisure and entertainment destination. The 28-hectare Sports Park will be part of the redevelopment on the site of the old Hong Kong International Airport in Kai Tak. The Sports Park features a 50,000-seat Main Stadium with a retractable roof, an Indoor Sports Centre with the flexibility to host community sports and events of up to 10,000 seats, and a Public Sports Ground with a capacity of 5,000 seats. These venues will be complemented with extensive public open spaces for events and leisure together with retail and harbour front dining spaces.

WELL CONNECTED

Commuting and Accessibility

The project site of the Kai Tak Sports Park takes an area of around 28 hectares in the north apron of the former airport.

MTR
Kai Tak Station and Sung Wong Toi Station are within 10 minutes’ walk; with Station Square connecting these stations to Kai Tak Sports Park.

Pedestrian walkways
Pedestrian walkways will connect the Kai Tak Sports Park to new developments in To Kwa Wan, Ma Tau Kok, Kowloon City and Kai Tak districts.

Bus
Kai Tak Sports Park is located near two public transport interchanges.

Ferry
Kai Tak Sports Park is located near Kowloon City Ferry Pier.

Parking
The precinct provides ample public parking spaces.

*Final designs are subject to change.

A PARK FOR ALL

Other Features

Sports and Leisure facilities to be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities, all day, every day.

The 14-hectare open space will cater to a diverse range of user groups from community and participatory sports, active recreation, and sports events. It is composed of a rich tapestry of activity and education zones, galleries, trails and elements that honor the iconic Kai Tak Airport and heritage.

Sports Avenue
The Sports Avenue runs across the entire precinct from North to South, offering connections from the adjacent Station Square the Kai Tak and Sung Wong Toi MTR Stations, and through to the harbourfront promenade.

Main Plaza
Located in the heartbeat of the precinct, the Main Plaza can be used for community recreation activities or events. The canopy over the Main Plaza is designed to provide abundant shade for visitors during event and crowd dispersal, and underneath the Main Plaza, a sub-podium passageway will offer an additional visitor dispersal route during events.

Event Village
Located east of the Main Stadium, the Event Village offers a mix of lawn and concrete floor surfaces suitable for different sports activities or extension programmes for major events.

South Plaza
Located in the southern part of the precinct, the South Plaza offers an open-air multi-purpose space for a wide range of activities inclusive of trails and activity zones. The South Plaza connects the harbourfront promenade through an outdoor amphitheatre-like terrace.

Neighbourhood Park
The Neighbourhood Park at the northeastern corner of the precinct will be equipped with courts for ball games as well as a cycling track, a jogging trail, a children’s playground and a lawn for recreation.

Dining Cove
The Dining Cove which overlooks the Victoria Harbour will offer a diverse range of food and beverage options.

Retail
In addition to restaurants, retail shops, and a health and wellness centre, there will be an international-standard bowling centre with 40 lanes suitable for hosting international tournaments.
*Final designs are subject to change.


MULTI-PURPOSE FACILITIES

Major Venues

A wide variety of international standard sports facilities suitable for both professional and amateur athletes.

Main Stadium
A Main Stadium with a fixed seating capacity of 50,000, with the theme “Pearl of the Orient” as its design inspiration, it boasts a retractable roof and flexible pitch surface that can host a wide range of international, regional and local events in any weather.
The facility has been designed to meet the standards of major international events with customisable staging and seating configurations that cater to various events and crowd sizes. It also adopts a flexible pitch system which can be switched between quality natural turf for premier football or rugby events, to other surface for a myriad of sports, entertainment, and community events. The South Stand honours the great Hong Kong Rugby Sevens tradition, with a vast activity platform set against a panoramic glass wall that provides exceptional views toward Victoria Harbour.


Indoor Sports Centre
An Indoor Sports Centre with a seating capacity of up to 10,000, with 80% of the seats retractable or removable that caters for different events. The venue has been designed to meet the standard of major international tournaments including badminton, basketball, gymnastics, tennis and table tennis. The ancillary sports hall offers a seating capacity of up to 500.
With the use of different arena overlay floor surfaces and removable spectator seating system, the venue can be configured for different sports activities, from elite competitions to community use. Together, the main arena and ancillary sports hall can provide the equivalent space of 12 standard basketball courts for community use when all spectator seats are removed.


Public Sports Ground
A Public Sports Ground with a seating capacity of 5,000, suitable for hosting school sports days, athletics meets, local football and rugby matches, as well as team and athlete training sessions. With the exception of major events, the Public Sports Ground will be open daily to the public for jogging and quali-walk free of charge.
*Final designs are subject to change.