Research Essays




Student Design Project One:
Chung Chi Gymnasium


A Kodak DC-40 Digital camera was taken on the initial site visit. The site was located adjacent to an existing concrete bleacher. It included part of a hill (GIF:137k) that sloped up behind the bleachers to one of the access roads on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The bleacher was built in the late sixties and remains in very good condition. The rear fassade is very well proportioned and appropriate. It is one of the few structures which remain from the original campus plan. Flat space is at a premium on the CUHK campus. It was originally a rock quarry for the dam of a fresh-water reservoir across Tolo Harbour. Thus, the playing field (GIF:146k) next to the bleachers was not part of the design site.

Preliminary Project Brief

Leisure sporting activities are a part of the lives of most people today: badminton, tennis, squash, Soccer, Handball, swimming, cricket, football, rugby, scuba diving, sailing, jogging, aerobic dancing, etc. It is hard to imagine our lives without some kind of sport. But this is a fairly modern phenomena. Few of our forebearers had the extra time to spend on activities that were considered a sport. Their lives were mostly taken up with physical labour, so that the idea of running around a field was not the highest of priorities. The root of many contemporary sports can be found in activities related to developing skills that were used in warfare; wrestling an enemy, throwing spears and rocks at them, running messages to the generals or to the troops, riding a horse the fastest and with great agility. Each of these skills enhanced an individual's chance of survival on the battlefield. Stadiums and large open fields were often designated by a community as a ground for competitions to display prowess. These parade grounds became places for both for the use of the military and for the enjoyment of the general public. There are very few historical examples of buildings that were designated for liesure sporting activities in ancient times, and fewer still in Asian communities.

Today, an indoor liesure sports facility is an expected part of a good community design. Community sports centers can range greatly in size and use. The Chung Chi College Gymnasium will be a multi-purpose gymnasium of moderate size primarily for the use by the college's students and staff, but with classes and events open to the University community as well.


Since the student population of the University is growing, the Chung Chi College has decided that it will build a moderately sized multi-purpose sports facility. The goal is to augment the University's offerings - not to replace the existing buildings. The site is adjacent to the existing stands that one sees as one walks out of the KCR train station and looks up to the Chung Chi College. Thus, the design of this building will be a very important aesthetic addition to the campus. It will create a gateway to the University.

Chung Chi Gymnasium Project Goals
The goals of this project were as follows:

  1. To provide experience with the design of a small public building with at least one long span roof.
  2. To facilitate the understanding of the way in which the load-bearing structure can be integrated into the design of a building.
  3. To demonstrate a clear understanding of the relationship between the systems of this small building and its architectural articulation.

Design Objectives
The objective for the student design project were as follows:
  1. To design a multi-purpose Gymnasium/Sports Center for the Chung Chi College.
  2. To design a space/spaces which is/are distinct in character and fitting of the confined site.
  3. To design a primary space in which events may be held that will also allow spectator observation
  4. To design a reasonable solution to the project that could be constructed with a moderate cost.

A Few Final Review Images
The short design time for the students resulted in some very interesting solutions to the difficult site. Prof. Dr. Tom F. Peters was on hand to assist in the final review. The following shots are only a representation of two of the eight final projects;
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The DC-40 was most helpful in that the images that were taken were available to the students hours after we visited the site. Given more time, they could have taken these images and pasted their own designs into the photos to create collages.One of the good things about projects in education, there is usually a next time!

Questions and comments about this application should be directed to Prof. Dr. Chris H. Luebkeman. All images on this site were taken with a Kodak DC-40 Digital camera. They were downloaded with Kodak's Photo Enhancer software which was included with the camera. They were resized and converted for WWW use with Adobe Photoshop 3.03.
© 1996 Chris H. Luebkeman