The "Fly the Flyover Operation" is an important place-making strategy in the Energizing Kowloon East initiative. The Operation aims to utilize unused spaces beneath Kwun Tong Bypass for creative, arts and cultural uses.
Fly the Flyover 01 was opened to the public in January 2013. This informal performance venue allows different parties to organize a wide variety of events and activities. An open-style design is adopted for the venue to serve as a public space for people to enjoy freely.
Subsequently, a non-profit making organization, HKALPS, was selected by EKEO through an open Invitation for Proposal to manage and operate the three Fly the Flyover sites. Fly the Flyover 02 and 03 provide various facilities including a gallery, outdoor open spaces, multi-purpose rooms, an open stage, urban farms, a restaurant, food kiosks and a pop-up store. The Operation brings more vibrancy to Kowloon East and creates synergy with the attractive Kwun Tong waterfront.
The concept of the project is to redefine and transform the unused spaces beneath Kwun Tong Bypass into vibrant spaces by connecting the Kwun Tong Business Area with the waterfront. There are numerous site constraints, including large extent of non-building areas due to the presence of underground power cables, drainage reserves and reserved areas for highway maintenance. To tackle these constraints, 20-foot freight containers were adopted as a basic module to create various architectural volumes by deploying different architectural techniques, such as subtraction and addition, stacking and rotation, extrusion and penetration. The separated outdoor spaces were intentionally "stitched" together. Through the mediation of the outdoor and the indoor spaces, the public can submerge into different "rooms" to participate, interact and experience the cohesion of different volumetric spaces.
Recycled freight containers were used as the major construction components. Freight containers are eco-friendly and modular, which offer advantages over traditional construction materials in terms of sustainability, cost-effectiveness, durability, buildability and flexibility for off-site construction during construction. Bamboo, being one of the most sustainable natural building materials, was also widely used in the project for articulation of the building envelope and providing shading to people and screening of outdoor mechanical plants.
For details of renting the venues and facilities, please contact HKALPS at:
Website: www.vessel.org.hk
Tel: 3618 4468
Email: venue@hkalps.org
