The programme requested a 20,000 sq fft Internet Service Centre (ISC) with one quarter of space dedicated for office while the rest catered for equipments, racks and mechanical equipments. The very nature of this programme, in the designer’s interpretation, suggested a co-existence of two kinds of space: one for people, the other for machines.
Thus , a unique identity should be built up for such kind of special mix of human and advanced technology.
The original site is a typical open plan office. Bare and empty. Continuous flowing planes in different materials are generated from the existing site condition. The LIGHT wall, the GLASS wall and the METALLIC wall forming three reference planes cut up the space and redefined different zones in accordance to their specific function.
The LIGHT wall and the METALLIC wall are set parallel to each other forming a corridor that run across the whole site. The twin planes diverse and expand at important areas and form nodes for events: to stay, to see, to work… The first node being the reception area is a welcoming space to receive guests. The twin planes extend to one end along the “space for people” and form additional nodes as the conference room and smaller meeting rooms. Flowing towards the other end, the twin planes penetrate into the core of the “machine space” and form the control room as another node.
The self-illuminated plexiglas light wall, the metallic plastic laminated wall, the framed glass wall, together with the mirror stainless steel ceiling provide different degree of reflection and refraction, physical transparency and virtual spatial extension. Flooded with blue fluorescent light with uplighters at specific areas, the whole space became a site where the real and the virtual intermingle, and where the boundaries transgressed.