Winner, Good Design Award Japan 2016
Winner, Reddot Communication Design Award 2016
Winner, Iconic Award 2016
Excellence, Global Design Awards (HKDA) 2016
Silver, Sustainable & Green Design category, A’ Design Award, Italy 2016
Finalist – Interior, HKIA Annual Award 2016/17
Finalist, Architectural design ‐ Interior design, Good Design Award Australia 2016

A bright grotto – a contemporary abstraction of nature – to refresh shoppers amidst delicate garments and dazzling commodities, is our design concept for this underground toilet. The design aims to tie back to nature, formally as well as environmentally. Sustainability, spatial sculpting and human comfort drive the whole design.

Minimum alterations are made to the original efficient layout, to minimize structural and piping alteration. It consists of three corridors of cubicles, washbasins & urinals. Wall furring was removed, the ‘found’ round and tilted square columns are painted to form a homogenous white mass to engage the space with unique shape and angle that hint the underlining structures.

White and ‘cyclorama’ setting is applied to give a bright and clean ambience – walls merge with the ceiling seamlessly and smoothly with curved surfaces, to diffuse light for plants to multi-function as general lighting. GRG panels are used to form the curved surfaces, for their durability and sustainable properties. The curved edges also eliminate the possibility of dark, dirty edges.

Indoor plants are grown to purify air, raise indoor oxygen level, and add life and colors of nature. The plants are grown above human level for better management and tidiness. Pots are hidden inside the GRG furring, to enable the plants to form pure strokes of green. Irrigation utilizes grey water collected from the wash basins, supported by a local filtration system.

The floor is a newly-casted dark grey terrazzo stone. The original sandstone and grey tiles are crushed as aggregates for the new terrazzo, forming unique golden chips to reveal the notion of recycling.

The new washbasin counter is an all-in-one station. The white corian counter curves up to join the LED lighting strip, mirror and ceiling as one integral piece, with a tree-shaped silhouette echoing its collection of grey water for irrigation. An integrated water tap cum hand dryer is installed for sustainability and cleanliness: this reduces dripping water on the counter-top and floor to a minumum, save space and paper towels.

Waterless urinal, water-saving WC & vacuum toilet are applied to save water usage up to 80%, and reduce waste volume up to 90% on a daily basis. Two fans are added to enhance fresh air movement, to replace mechanical cooling in winter and to reduce the cooling load in summer.



Location: TaiKoo Hui, Guangzhou, China
Client: Taikoo Hui (Guangzhou) Development Co.,Ltd.
Year: 2016
Status: Completed
Team: Billy Chan, Ida Sze, Michelle Tam, Shann Yong