ECOLOGICAL URBAN-NATURE NETWORK The existing Anderson Road Quarry rock face remains unattractive and over extracted causing ecological problems to the surrounding community. These include disconnecting residential communities with the country park, noise and air pollution, wasting a big public open space and damaging natural ecologies. There are lacking local as well as visitor facilities for public leisure as well as community uses.

PROPOSAL

Our design proposal aims to use the site to reconnect the Country Parks and The City again into an ecological landmark using an Eco-network of structures and natural elements to heal the damaged landscape and provide Eco-education through the user experiences. The Park and rock face are merged through the Eco-network system that extends into Kowloon, bring Country Park natural resources and leisure into the city. Connecting the people of the Kwun Tong district and older neighborhoods to our Park site with natural ecology and public programmes, we expanded the urban grid to transform it into both network and physical structure for accommodating nature and people. This allows the Quarry Park and rock face to be sustainable through social integration with nature and city.

MESH ECOLOGIES & PUBLIC LIFE

Our Eco-network system is developed as an expanded 3D mesh that adapts to the contours of landscape and city form. The mesh is about extending the complex urban grid from old Kwun Tong districts to the Quarry Park, up the rock face to the Peak Lookout and into the country parks. It is people centered and functional as a movement system as well as structure for shelter, natural enclaves, animals and water, waste and heat transfer. Different ecological systems are embedded in the mesh structure, including rainwater collection system, solar panels, and hiking cooling system. Our eco-mesh system collects rainwater and drainage water from the top of the rock face, and then flows through the mesh purified by different kind of wetland plants, mineral rock and living species. Rainwater will also be released as water mist along the hiking trails which helps provide a cooler and comfortable temperature to hikers. The solar panel system uses of the solar radiation to regenerate stored clean energy and serves the whole community. The two systems can also combined in a way that the purified rainwater will be heated up by the solar radiation and rock thermal radiation, and conducted to local users. In our Quarry Park, different leisure accommodations and public functions for different age groups are provided to connect internal residents with the outside visitors from Hong Kong and the world. There are five main facilities - which include the Peak Aqua Lookout Reservoir, Waterfall Rock Museum, Geological Ecology River, Cavern Quarry Museum, Rock-climbing Centre, and Sport Centre.

PUBLIC FACILITIES AS SOCIAL HEALING

On the top of the rock face, a water reservoir is placed next to the Peak look out area in order to collect rainfall. After collecting the rainwater, it will be purified through the mesh on the rock face and flow down as a waterfall, becoming a main connection of the rainwater collector on the top of the mountain to the river inside the Quarry Park that also acts as a wetland on the slope towards older Kwun Tong residential estates. Since the rock face inside the site is being extracted for so long, there is no more soil remained for plants. In fact, we make use of this situation and located the geological river along the quarry park. The river is not only for beautifying the park, but also serves as a historical timeline of the quarry with educational components for children and tourist visitors. The Cavern Quarry Museum is located behind the waterfall as to provide people a nature experience about the quarry. Besides, we make use of the rock face by designing a rock-climbing centre next to the waterfall. Visitors will be able to enjoy the waterfall view while they are doing rock climbing. Different sport facilities for all ages including elderly residents are enclosed inside the Sports Centre, which is located at the end of the river in the Park.