Interviews with QUAD studio

Wai Tang Founding Partner of QUAD

Born in Hong Kong in 1970 he moved to the UK in 1972 and at the age of 17 enrolled in the Birmingham School of Architecture before moving to London in 1993 to complete his Masters at the University of Westminster. There he was mentored by RIBA gold medallist, David Greene of Archigram, and was awarded the RIBA Silver Medal Runner Up award for best national diploma project in 1995.

I have great aspirations for QUAD. In 5 years, I want some of our designs to get recognised in the world stage with some of our project getting realized. In 10 years, I hope QUAD will be a well-known architectural practice for its ability achieve cutting edge design and in the forefront of innovation.

When your design is appreciated and enjoyed by others

Medieval Rethink was an opportunity to recreate a medieval environment in a contemporary cultural setting. The narrative and design approach of the cultural centre has been extensively explored previously. Located in the norther province of Guangdong, this Contemporary Cultural Centre will not only showcase the history culture of the 900-year-old village, it will also function as a cultural exhibition centre and will attract thousands of visitors from all over the region.

The cultural centre becomes the new destination for villagers to congregate and to socially interact. Here, opportunities arise to great a truly cultural contemporary icon inspired by a historical monument that links old and new. We make a focus in the cultural centre. An object that is the primary function, a multipurpose hall that most villagers will congregate in large social events. Other functions are clustered around the object that naturally creates internal streets and courtyards that are filled with an abundance of natural landscape.

The Setting - Today, the City of Shantou is developing quickly to a megalopolis. With a new Delta City,with its vision to create prime real estate along the coastal waterfront that opens zones for public space and cultural uses.A new city orientated around a series of urban green spaces and canals that creates new neighborhoods with an emphasis on experimental innovation, coastal regeneration and the next generation of agriculture.To the south of Delta city is the village of Zhu Pu in Zhu yuan Residential District that dates to the Song Dynasty with a beautiful concentric medieval planning orientated around an ancient rock formation called the Ding Qi Stone that symbolizes the origin of the village of Zhu Pu. Opportunities - When it comes to the design of the Cultural Centre, we wanted to create a sense of place that the villagers can relate to more as a community centre where villager come and use the space on a day to day basis rather than a civic hall that will only be used on special occasions. This idea changes the look and feel of the cultural centre. The cultural centre becomes the new destination for villagers to congregate and to socially interact. Here, opportunities arise to great a truly cultural contemporary icon inspired by a historical monument that links old and new. A successful example of how a historical monument is interpret into a contemporary icon is the relationship of the Arc de Triomphe and La defense in Paris. The difference here is that we are in just inspired by a monument or the Ding Qi Stone) but also the village that surrounds it. Exploration of the existing village - Walking around the village, we are inspired by the scale and how man and nature exist in harmony. This experience compels us to create a contemporary interpretation of this natural harmony that in turn creates a unique cultural centre for Zhu Pu. A cultural link between the old village and the new cultural centre. Beautifully preserved, the village of Zhu Pu dates to the Song dynasty. With its organic concentric planning, it relates itself to many medieval Chinese urban planning principles. What stands out in the planning of the village is how the residential dwelling and temples sit in harmony with nature.

Cultural Differences - The cultural centre was designed for the villagers as their space for social interaction. To design the centre, we had to meet with the villagers and discuss their personal needs for this project. Apart from understanding their culture, the main difficulties come in syphering all their needs and wants information into a design. Only when you understand their culture can you then try to rethink the whole idea of what a cultural centre means to the villager The Abstraction – Abstracting the village into the design took a lot of patience and work so that the final design truly depicts our chosen narrative. By stripping off the facade, we are left with a picture like frame. What this does is it focuses your eye towards the objects within the frame. If we then superimpose an image of this medieval village the frame, what you are left with a framed skyline of the medieval village. Abstraction occurs when the skyline is then pixelated. Using dark and light shades of pixels, we generate an abstraction with a notion of depth. This abstraction creates a shading device and the multi layering of the facade together with the objects inside the cultural centre creates a rich composition depicting a visual depth beyond the facade. Recreating the village – Ultimately, we wanted to create a place that will enhance the lives of the villagers. Creating a narrative for the cultural centre not only help the design collective to create a very special place, it is also an attempt to capture an emotional response for any individual visiting the place. The medieval village has already manifested itself in the planning of the functional objects, the facade and also in the internal public realm.

Inspiration: Twin Towers symbolized as gateway to Yibin and lighthouse for Yangtze River reflecting the distinctive geographical location of the city while connecting heaven and earth through its guarding light as metaphor

Yibin Greenland Centre comprises of 160m tall mixed-use Twin Towers integrate architecture and nature with the 1km long landscape boulevard. Yibin has a history for more than 4000 years, accumulating wisdom and culture just like the sediment in the river marked the development of Yibin. The Twin Towers serve as a light portal to guide visitors as well as a landmark for residents to assemble.

Architects envisions this mega project can be rooted in local Yibin culture and both façade design, landscape design and masterplanning can reveal the distinct regional natural features and its geographical significance

Local plant species widely used and arranged as four seasons garden in central park.

Architects has to complete the design in tight construction cost and limited time, while the site , extra focus has put on designing terraces, public stars and ramps in central park due to its significant level difference along the north-south axis. Local plant species carefully chosen to be ever-green, easy to maintain and compatible in colors and shapes with site surroundings

Megalopolis X is located on the southern edges of Shenzhen between Shenzhen Bay and Futian. Looking at Shenzhen as city in isolation, the base covers all regions of Shenzhen in a shape of a semi circle. Looking at a bigger picture in the context of Hong Kong and Shenzhen as a whole, the base is in the centre of two cities, and in this perspective, it changes its context. By 2047, Shenzhen and Hong Kong will be one single megalopolis.

Megalopolis X was created in response to the Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarter Base architectural ideas competition hosted by the city of Shenzhen. The consortium that made up the project team consisted of Quad Studio Hong Kong, Atelier 10 Singapore, and MVA Hong Kong. We were one of 15 creative international design teams invited to take on the task over the 3 month competition period.

Megalopolis X exists as the centre and heart of the Megalopolis. It contains core attribute that makes it the true centre and the innovative brain of the Greater Bay Area. Imagine a city based on cutting edge technology with futuristic nature and contemporary arts all fused together for a city of creative polymaths for the year 2050? Taking on the task to create not hubs, but the heart of the Greater Bay Area. A place where people from around the world gather and marvel on the next generation.

Imagine a city based on cutting edge technology, futuristic in nature fused with contemporary arts for a city of creative polymaths for the year 2050? The challenge was to not simply create a hub for Shenzhen, yet a heart for the Greater Bay Area. A place where people from around the world would come to marvel at the next generation of future cities, a place where we rethink the future designing the architecture and urban realms for creative communities to develop a platform for all of us to lead the way towards creation. Megalopolis X will be a catalyst becoming the brain of the Greater Bay Area.

Wai Tang Founding Partner of QUAD

Born in Hong Kong in 1970 he moved to the UK in 1972 and at the age of 17 enrolled in the Birmingham School of Architecture before moving to London in 1993 to complete his Masters at the University of Westminster. There he was mentored by RIBA gold medallist, David Greene of Archigram, and was awarded the RIBA Silver Medal Runner Up award for best national diploma project in 1995.

Their entire ethos of QUAD studio is based on the belief that humanity is at the crossroads of change and that clients today demand more from architects than just architecture. As such, QUAD describes itself as a collective polymath of designers working together to create a holistic design narrative that blurs the lines between what were once considered separate disciplines. From architecture through to interiors, furniture design and branding, QUAD brings together a group of like-minded individuals, intent on sharing ideas and bringing them to reality for the betterment of the society.

For me, to see his ideals and design philosophy being executed to perfection and being able to influence the lives of future generations, is truly what being a designer is all about.

As a brand we don’t promise anything specific, but we have created a platform to explore ideas, experiment and discuss. In that sense we see ourselves as a laboratory for design, where innovation is like poetry and design is derived from the principles of dogma and context, where dogma is a series of beliefs and context is how they are implemented.

In the past few year, we were fortunate to work on projects and many different scales, from the small 8000m2 Cultural Centre in Shantou to the 5,000,000m2 Super Headquarter Base in Shenzhen bay. Do I have a favourite? Not really, all my project is somewhat special in their own way.

My favourite material is glass and the different ways you can use glass in architecture

In the morning when there is no one in the office

When your design is appreciated and enjoyed by others

All designs must be environmentally focused, our world is dying, if we don’t do our part, we will not have a world to live in anymore. That’s what in our project Megalopolis X, we strive to create a world that relieves stress on our infrastructure as well as ideas to deal with the rubbish generated in our cities. Gasification of our rubbish to run turbines to power public lighting and district cooling is definitely one of many sustainable items in the strive towards a zero-carbon city

Architecture is in the forefront of change and like the great artist in the renaissance period, I want QUAD to be one of the many pioneers of the new age of renaissance happening in Greater China or even in this world.

Our last exhibition was in March 2020, held simultaneously at The Mills, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong and Futien in Shenzhen, PRC for the Hong Kong and Shenzhen Bi-city Biennale for Architecture and Urbanism. Hopefully our next exhibition would be held this Summer in Shenzhen

I feel the most creative when there is no one in the office

I have always enjoyed the birth of a concept where us designer create from zero to one

I have great aspirations for QUAD. In 5 years, I want some of our designs to get recognised in the world stage with some of our project getting realized. In 10 years, I hope QUAD will be a well-known architectural practice for its ability achieve cutting edge design and in the forefront of innovation.

Working as a team is the only way to work. I still truly believe in the collective polymath where a group of creative individuals come together for social intervention

Look up @thequadstudio and you will find us