Hong Kong housing estate gets butterfly theme after residents’ ideas for ‘happier environment’ taken on board

Hong Kong grandmother Cheng Wai-ping has lived at the Butterfly Estate for more than four decades and has no plans to move anywhere else. The serenity and clean air of the public housing neighbourhood in Tuen Mun in the northwestern New Territories and familiar faces have made the area home for her. So when the housing authorities announced plans to spruce up the estate and asked for residents’ suggestions, Cheng, 66, was delighted to take part. The exterior walls of the estate’s six blocks are being painted with new colours and butterflies are turning up everywhere, as motifs on the wall and in two large new murals. More public spaces are being added, and improvements are under way at playgrounds and basketball courts. The work is still to be completed, but Cheng said: “The place is now more beautiful. I enjoy taking photos and walking around.” The changes so far have already encouraged her grandson and granddaughter to visit her more often. “My granddaughter loves taking photos and is reluctant to leave each time,” Cheng added. Butterfly Estate has more than 5,000 households and is among 10 public housing estates picked for renovation under the pilot programme to improve the well-being of residents and make them feel happier in their neighbourhoods. Hong Kong Instagram hotspot Choi Hung Estate set to be ‘redeveloped in stages’ The changes include the decoration of exterior walls and the upgrading of public spaces to elevate the area. Aaron Man Wui-yat, a senior maintenance surveyor in the Housing Department, said a key part of the programme was engagement with residents in the design process so their views and suggestions could be included. “In the past, our colleagues came up with the designs themselves before contractors started work,” he said on Tuesday. “This time we want to add elements from the residents.” The department asked architectural team HIR Studio and social innovation consultancy Education for Good to survey more than 100 residents in the estate. They also set up a street counter to speak to residents and held a workshop to discuss different ideas for the blocks’ exterior walls and the estate’s public areas. Irene Cheng Shun-nei, design principal at HIR Studio, said residents mainly wanted their estate to be more distinctive with the addition of butterfly designs. Now a butterfly theme runs through the design, patterns and colours used for the estate’s exterior walls and common areas. “We hope to strengthen residents’ sense of belonging through their participation,” Cheng added. Hong Kong ‘faces tough task to resettle residents of Instagrammable housing estate’ The six blocks are also being painted in different colours to make them easier for elderly residents to identify. The exterior walls had a two-colour gradient design to match the stepped architecture, creating the effect of a butterfly spreading its wings, Cheng said. The team worked with an illustrator to create two large murals which they said they expected would become popular with residents as photo spots. One mural, on the exterior of one of the buildings, features butterflies of various colours and sizes, trees, flowers, ladybirds, snails and people. Cheng said the mural incorporated eyesores such as water pipes and rat traps, turning them into tree trunks and tree houses. She said residents voted on the design from a shortlist of several options. The other mural, on a pavilion in an open area, features various local attractions such as Butterfly Beach, Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery, the Gold Coast and Castle Peak. Sylvia Mok Yeuk-sze, a Housing Department maintenance surveyor, said that after the exterior walls were painted the next phase would include renovation work at a public square, playgrounds and basketball courts. Residents had asked for more public spaces for activities, play areas for children of different ages and fitness facilities. Mok said all the work was expected to be completed early next year. See the beauty in Hong Kong’s ‘boring’ housing estates, don’t tear them down The department said renovation of the other nine public estates in the programme was expected to be completed in phases over the 2024-25 financial year. Mok added that housing authorities would release a set of guidelines on the best ways to improve the well-being of residents at the end of this year. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced in his 2022 policy address that Winnie Ho Wing-yin, the housing secretary, would head an action group set up to develop “well-being” design guidelines for new public estates to enhance quality. The group has launched a series of well-being projects, including a review of the environment and amenities at public housing estates and the study of improvements through landscaping and the painting of exterior walls.