Date 12.5.2025
Location Hong Kong
Our collaborative team of BSSc and MArch students, Yuen Kong Kit, Ma Lechi and Chan Yui Hei Joshua, led by Dr. Jimmy Ho, won the National Stage of the Saint-Gobain Architecture Student Contest 2025, securing a HK$10,000 prize. Representing Hong Kong, the team will be sponsored to travel to France and compete in the International Stage.
Situated in the Nord-Isère of France, their innovative proposal Stitching Place reimagines two rural French sites through light-touch interventions that weave together fabric, field, and community. In the Chimilin site, adaptive reuse strategies are implemented to transform the former school into the Chimilin Community Hub. With a sunroom extension and renovation of the existing building, these interventions preserve the building typology and heritage while being imbued with new layers of spatial and social connectivity. In the Villefontaine site, the design of a co-creation lab embraces long-term flexibility through modular planning, anticipating future additions such as a conference centre, outdoor auditorium, and cafeteria. Responding to realistic climate conditions, passive thermal strategies like a south-facing Trombe wall and sunroom are implemented for winter heating. Stitching Place incorporates architectural renovations, sustainable strategies in response to local climate challenges, and adaptive anticipation for future living.
The Saint-Gobain Architecture Student Contest, previously known as the Multi Comfort Student Contest, is a two-stage competition comprising the National Stage and the International Stage. Partnered with the high-performance glass manufacturer with 350 years of history and synergised with sustainable technologies and materials, the contest praises architectural proposals with practical solutions and sensibilities in renovations and new constructions. Participants are encouraged to propose ideas under realistic constraints while addressing sustainability criteria.
We congratulate students Yuen Kong Kit, Ma Lechi and Chan Yui Hei Joshua and team leader Dr. Jimmy Ho on their success and wish them the best for the upcoming competing stage in France.
