A 2,000sq m (21,527 sq ft) environmental and educational visitor centre is to be built inside a new sludge treatment facility in Hong Kong, which on completion will be the world’s largest of its kind.
The Environmental Education Centre (EEC) project is funded by the Environmental Protection Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government and will be designed, built and operated by a joint venture of Veolia Water and Veolia Environmental Services.
MET Studio has been commissioned on a design-and-build contract with partner Hypsos Leisure Asia Ltd to create the majority of the inside attraction space, while Vasconi Associes Architectes will provide designs for the building’s overall structure.
The EEC’s objective is to serve as a platform for educational engagement with the people of Hong Kong and with relevant professionals, by showcasing the technological advances, scale and benefits of the new plant to the environment.
Alongisde an interactive exhibition gallery, a visitor gallery, lecture theatre and a café, there will also be an indoor spa and pools heated by energy generated at the plant.
Visitors will also be able to visit a rooftop garden, which is accompanied by surrounding landscaped gardens and a specially-crafted habitat created for water birds, to ensure that the venue acts as a valuable resource destination for the area’s community and wildlife.
To continue this resourceful dedication, the ECC will provide free electric shuttle buses to bring visitors to the facility from the nearby Tuen Mun town centre.
Some of MET’s work inside includes the design of the reception and holding areas on the ground floor, as well as a 300sq m (3,229 sq ft) interactive gallery exploring the background and impact of the plant.
Designs are also in place for a café, which links to an interactive gallery and a raised bridge pathway giving views into the plant’s process area, which is punctuated by information exhibits for visitors to view as they walk around the attraction.
An emphasis is to be placed on ensuring that the plant can provide relevant forms of information to a wide variety of people. As a result, exhibit descriptions will provide different explanations to cater for everyone, from engineers through to school children.
The creation of the new sludge facility comes as Hong Kong seeks to remove excess sludge generated as the region sought to increase its water quality, with the waste sludge created being stored as landfill.
The new treatment facility will look to dispose of the sludge using thermal incineration technology, with experts hoping to treat up to 2,000 tons a day and therefore reduce the region’s sludge deposits by 90 per cent in the process.
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