The Lo Kwee Seong Pavilion of the Art Museum at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) was awarded the \u201cMedal of the Year\u201d by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects Awards 2025 (HKIA Awards). The awards aim to recognise excellence in architectural design. As one of the most prestigious architectural awards in Hong Kong, it fosters public appreciation and understanding of local landmarks. Members of an international jury were hugely impressed by the architectural design from Dr Rocco Yim. Opening in March 2025, the award-winning pavilion is a cantilevered building that perches on a slope, part of the University\u2019s mountainous terrain.<\/p>\r\n
Professor Dennis Lo<\/strong> Yuk-ming<\/strong>, CUHK\u2019s Vice-Chancellor and President, said: \u201cThe construction of the Art Museum\u2019s new extension was made possible through the generous support of the Lo Kwee Seong Foundation and the family of Mr and Mrs Harold Lee. The gifts have enabled Dr Rocco Yim to design a state-of-the-art facility that integrates art-making, curating and teaching, which diversify and enrich the overall museum experience. As a new landmark or art and academia, the Art Museum fully embodies CUHK\u2019s commitment to promoting art accessibility. It will help deepen interdisciplinary research related to visual and material culture, facilitates collaborations among academic and cultural institutions, and provide students with high-quality, hands-on training, thereby enhancing Hong Kong\u2019s international standing as a hub for education and the arts.\u201d<\/p>\r\n The HKIA Awards jury panel commented: \u201cThe new museum pavilion is an artful assembly of dramatic, well-crafted spaces that successfully operates on many levels \u2013 as an inviting campus connector between the University Mall and lush, lower access road landscape, as respectful addition to the existing museum collecting the bi-level galleries into a single great gallery room, and as a compact expression of interrelated programmes and functions articulated in the iconic cantilevered form. There is a strong human scale within, enabling intimate experiences focused on the art displays, as well as lively communal activity at the cafe, bookstore and function hall. A monumental staircase, exposed to the exterior, reinforces the powerful procession through the building. Carefully configured glazing locations provide thrilling vistas of the surrounding natural landscape. Thoughtful and meticulous detailing with simple materials and strategic design decisions in the interior and exterior has created an elegant architectural statement, despite the limited budget. Light, view and movement have been masterfully considered for all spaces and contribute to a poetic, memorable resource for the University.\u201d<\/p>\r\n Dr Rocco Yim, Principal of Rocco Design Architects Associates Ltd and an honorary professor of the CUHK School of Architecture, used fair-faced concrete with a formliner pattern to underline the unassuming, scholarly atmosphere of CUHK. The new building, built on a slope and hovering above trees, offers visitors a chance to cleanse their minds while exploring cultural relics. Dr Yim envisioned the museum as a seat of learning that \u201cinherits the past and establishes the future\u201d, shedding light on ancient culture while making use of artefacts and objects in contemporary learning and creation.<\/p>\r\n Lo Kwee Seong Pavilion, Art Museum<\/strong><\/p>\r\n With a usable floor area of 1,770 square metres, the new Lo Kwee Seong Pavilion comprises the Harold and Christina Lee Gallery for special exhibitions; the Lee Hysan Atrium, where the cafe and bookshop are located; an artist studio; and workshops. Its form resembles the peaks of the Lingnan region\u2019s mountains and integrates itself into the natural landscape and topography of CUHK. Connecting to the Museum\u2019s original galleries, the University Avenue and the University Mall, it is a new artistic and cultural landmark at CUHK. Its structural, V-column implies the concepts of heritage and support, or \u201c\u627f\u201d in Chinese. The facade was designed using formlining fairfaced concrete, meaning that it was embossed using specially created formwork in a unique pattern, with varying depths and densities of lines and grooves.<\/p>\r\n The Art Museum was established over half a century ago, with new galleries added over the decades to give it a unique charm that echoes the beauty of CUHK\u2019s architecture. The new architectural tour \u201cFrom 1971 to 2025: Art Museum Space Odyssey\u201d allows visitors to discover the buildings\u2019 evolution, with a special focus on the Lo Kwee Seong Pavilion and its architectural aesthetic. In the video \u201cArt Museum \u2013 Lo Kwee Seong Pavilion<\/a>\u201d, a dialogue between Professor Josh Yiu, Director of the Art Museum and Dr Rocco Yim allows visitors to deepen their behind-the-scenes understanding of the building\u2019s architecture.<\/p>\r\n