Adding colour to concrete

May 20, 2018

Natural setting:

The columns of a Shau Kei Wan flyover have been painted with trees, butterflies and birds.

Deep water:

This Sham Shui Po pedestrian subway has been transformed into an aquarium by applying large posters on its ceiling.

Concrete contrast:

In Fanling, a busy footbridge has become a canvas to showcase the North District’s natural beauty.

Trace of colour:

Contractors project an image on a wall during the beautification process.

Download Video| Transcript

Highways Department Landscape Architect Eric Wong:
The location of the park is quite special, which is underneath the flyover and surrounded by the carriageway. I imagined those columns were trees and some butterflies or birds flying around. At the pet corner, you can find different images of dogs. Some lie leisurely on the ground and some are chasing butterflies.

Highways Department Landscape Architect Helen Ngai:
Most of the land in Sham Shui Po was formed by reclamation. When I first came here, I noticed that the translucent covers at both ends of the subways just look like an aquarium, and the Chinese meaning of Sham Shui is deep waters. In this design, I hope to take people away from their busy daily lives and bring them into an imaginary sea world.

Highways Department Landscape Architect David Yuen:
This footbridge is located in the busy Luen Wo Hui area of Fanling. The theme "Country Delight" is adopted to utilise the large walls beside the disabled ramps and staircases to serve as the canvas to bring in the renowned natural beauty of the countryside of North District.

Voiceover:
The Highways Department has also spruced up bridges and pedestrian subways in Yuen Long, Tuen Mun, Ma On Shan, Tseung Kwan O and Sau Mau Ping with special thematic designs.

The designs transform existing highway and pathway structures into pieces of art to bring colour into the busy lives of Hong Kong people.

Highways Department Landscape Architect David Yuen:
Living in a fast-paced and busy concrete jungle like Hong Kong, we may not have the leisure in appreciating the beauty of nature and other good things around us. The design resembles delightful scenes such as walking the dog in the woods, watching wild birds with the family in the countryside, and being in an aquarium for the first time as a childhood memory. All these happy scenes in the memories of you and me help to slow down the pace and to brighten up our mood.

Voiceover:
Some parts of the designs reach the ceiling to create an immersive experience.

But the beautification work is a challenging task.

The department's Landscape Architects have to work closely with engineers and contractors to identify and overcome various constraints and challenges.

Specialist subcontractor Marketing Director Sharon Cheuk:
We use the projectors to project the image on the wall. It helps us to manage the outline more easily in a large area. The biggest challenge in this project is a very tight schedule. The paint is sensitive to temperature and humidity so we have to only work in good weather.

Highways Department Maintenance Engineer Calvin Kwok:
These two subways are located at the centre of the Sham Shui Po district and they have very high pedestrian flow. For the beautification of the subways, we used outdoor advertising stickers. Stickers printed with thematic graphics were stuck on the subway ceilings, including the entrance covers. These stickers are waterproof, UV-resistant, easy to install and clean. The stickers were designed to suit the site features including lighting fixtures and expansion joints.

Voiceover:
The Highways Department is always on the lookout for structures that can be used as art canvases.

People can use their smartphones to scan QR codes displayed on the artworks to learn more about their background stories.

The Highways Department has transformed Hong Kong's highways and walkways into lush forests and imaginary underwater worlds with thematic designs.

The department's beautification works have added colour to highway columns, footbridges, and internal walls and ceilings of pedestrian subways to stir people's imagination.

Thematic designs have been adopted in eight beautification projects in Shau Kei Wan, Sham Shui Po, Sau Mau Ping, Ma On Shan, Yuen Long, Fanling, Tseung Kwan O and Tuen Mun.

Tailor-made

In Sham Shui Po, the department's Landscape Architect Helen Ngai turned two pedestrian subways between Apliu Street and Fuk Wa Street into an aquarium with large posters.

She said: "The Chinese meaning of Sham Shui is deep waters. In this design, I hope to take people away from their busy daily lives and bring them into an imaginary sea world."

The large posters with images of Chinese white dolphins, green sea turtles and jellyfish were applied on the subways' ceilings.

In Shau Kei Wan, trees with butterflies and birds flying around were painted onto a flyover's columns, and in Fanling the theme of "Country Delight" was adopted on a footbridge at Luen Wo Hui near Luen On Street.

There, large walls beside ramps for the disabled and staircases serve as a canvas to showcase the beauty of the North District countryside.

Happy scenes

Highways Department Landscape Architect David Yuen said the designs transform existing structures into art pieces to bring colour into the busy lives of Hong Kong people.

"Living in a fast-paced and busy concrete jungle like Hong Kong, we may not have the leisure in appreciating the beauty of nature and other good things around us.

"The design resembles delightful scenes such as walking the dog in the woods, watching wild birds with the family in the countryside, and being in an aquarium for the first time as a childhood memory.

"All these happy scenes in the memories of you and me help to slow down the pace and to brighten up our mood."

However, the transformation work is a challenging task. Landscape architects must work closely with engineers and contractors to identify and overcome various constraints and challenges.

Highways Department Maintenance Engineer Calvin Kwok said the installation of the Sham Shui Po display could only be conducted at midnight because of the high pedestrian flow of the two subways.

"Over 400 sq m of thematic stickers were put on the two subways in only four nights. In order to accomplish the task accurately within such a short time frame, pre-installation preparation work was crucial."

The department is always on the lookout for structures that can be used as art canvases.

People can use their smartphones to scan QR codes displayed on the artworks to learn more about their background stories.