Could Central become the new green lung of Hong Kong?
Soraya Somarathne shows how an upcoming Murray Road office tower and the Chater and Lambeth Walk gardens could be linked with a potential pedestrianised strip, to create a tropical paradise in the heart of the city
Both projects intersect Chater Garden, a small but important green node in the city centre. With a new landmark tower and a reinvented pedestrian boulevard taking root alongside Chater Garden, could all three intertwine to make downtown Central the new green lung of Hong Kong?
The new green zone so created would run along a pedestrianised Des Voeux Road, pass through Chater Garden and culminate at the base of the new tower on the Murray Road plot. The idea comes from connecting the planned pedestrian boulevard to two existing gardens: Chater Garden and Lambeth Walk Rest Garden.
Lambeth Walk Rest Garden is a little-known green pocket opposite Chater Garden and adjacent to the Murray Road plot. By extending this garden through the planned office tower at ground level, a lush tropical garden at the base of the tower could be created.
Reinvigorate Hong Kong with more pedestrian-only zones
Unlike Des Voeux Road and Chater Garden, this garden would be covered and shaded by the tower above, resulting in a bigger reduction in temperature, with funnelled breezes and filtered air moving through the space. This tropical garden would operate as the climax of the green zone as well as the main entrance to the proposed landmark tower.