As the Chief Technical Officer in the Structural Engineering Branch, I am responsible for overseeing the drafting services and technical support provided by technical officers in structural related projects, as well as assisting in the formulation of policies on staff planning, promotion, recruitment, training and welfare for technical officers.

To foster the continuous development of our staff, ArchSD establishes a Knowledge Management Hub to harvest useful project information and publications and to provide references for our staff. We also offer a wide range of internal and external training opportunities, covering occupational health and safety training, technical training, and visits/tours. For example, ArchSD has organised annual technical exchange to visit the Mainland China to learn about their environmental and sustainability initiatives and latest industrial practices. Moreover, we have a six-month mentorship programme for new comers to create a support network and facilitate knowledge transfer. This programme has fostered meaningful and diverse relationships across the department and facilitated effective communication.

ArchSD also continuously strives to maintain good communication in the workplace by providing a variety of communication channels to engage our colleagues across all the branches at different levels. We welcome our colleagues to exchange feedback via the Branch Consultative Committee and the Departmental Consultative Committee, and participate recreational and sports activities.

To meet the increasing demand for the adoption of the BIM technology, ArchSD should further review and enhance the work programme, and place more human resources to gain better control of the project timeline. It is also important to enhance staff competence in the adoption of new technologies for long-term development.

We are pleased to collaborate with ArchSD in the development of some of the government construction projects in Hong Kong, including the Sports Centre, Community Hall and Football Pitches in Tai Po and a secondary school in Kai Tak Development.

We appreciate ArchSD’s support and technical advice on integrating sustainability in construction, for example, construction site safety and mitigation of environmental impacts into the construction process. As a responsible contractor, we ensure site safety and compliance by following strictly with the statutory requirements and the detailed safety standards set out by ArchSD. Besides holding regular meetings to review our performance, ArchSD also encourages best practice beyond requirements. Taking into account the perspectives of the key stakeholders, we helped facilitate stakeholder workshops organised by ArchSD to solicit the expectations and concerns of different parties before the commencement of the projects. In the course of the projects, we have also carried out different voluntary activities especially for two neighbouring schools, including Tai Po Old Market Public School and Sung Tak Wong Kin Sheung Memorial School.

ArchSD and us work together to continually reduce our impact on the environment and neighbouring community. Various green measures have been adopted in our construction sites including utilising raw material efficiently, conserving energy and water, promoting waste recycling, and harnessing renewable energy source. We are honored that our efforts were recognised by ArchSD by winning the Green Contractor Award 2017 – Gold Award. We look forward to more opportunities to work alongside with ArchSD to adopt more green measures in different construction projects.

Our connection with ArchSD started around 5 years ago when we collaborated with ArchSD on practical Building Information Modelling (BIM) application for some of the government facilities in Hong Kong. Our role is to promote the uptake of BIM technology in the industry and to provide professional support on the means of better management of building information which can reap a multitude of benefits for building design and construction projects.

The renovation of 1/F Main Block APB Centre is a collaborative project we had with ArchSD. From renovation design to facility management, we offer BIM technology to consolidate and document large amount of data for identifying a flexible layout that can optimise the circulation areas and other public areas in the office. We successfully came up with innovative designs such as identifying space for vertical green wall at the APB Centre. We also provided our professional advice for another collaborative project on the Revitalisation of the Old Dairy Farm Senior Staff Quarters. The main obstacle encountered was the mismatch between the actual layout of staff quarters and the original floor plans, and hence our team has successfully utilised laser scanners in the BIM process to scan the whole building from interior to exterior to retrieve the accurate layouts and measurements.

ArchSD meets with us regularly to make sure the project can be delivered on time and takes the lead to foster communication between different parties. We are happy that ArchSD strives to explore innovative approaches to help improve building quality. We have witnessed a major difference before and after the application of BIM technology that construction waste, design errors and project delivery delay time have been significantly reduced. Apart from these, the implementation of BIM had enriched the whole project process by successfully enhancing communication, coordination, management among ArchSD and contractors, as well as speeding up the productivity and reduce manpower. We welcome ArchSD to organise more experience sharing sessions on BIM application and to continually promote the application of IT technology in construction and building design.

We are happy to work with the Architectural Services Department (ArchSD) on the Signature Project Scheme - “Central and Western District Promenade (Western Wholesale Food Market Section)” - to offer new harbourfront public open space for the Central and Western district. The project involves revitalisation works of four piers formerly used by the Western Wholesale Food Market and the transformation of its waterfront section into different recreation zones forming a 400-metre long promenade.

The ArchSD offered many innovative ideas and provided great support throughout this project, which can be demonstrated through the integration of sustainability concept into the design and construction phases while taking into account different social needs as well as the preservation of cultural and historical elements. For instances at Pier No.1 - Children Playground, the wooden boxes designed by ArchSD were equipped with blackboards while some were designed with panels for playing board games and display were installed to support family play-based activities to be held at the area. At Pier No.2 – Timber Deck, our aim is to build a flexible space to host an array of activities. We appreciated that ArchSD helped created stepped wooden benches at the shelter of the promenade facing Pier 2 which could serve as both an audience stand and a mini-stage for performances. As for Pier No.3 – Grass Area, a hanger machine which was once used by operators at the Western Wholesale Food Market was conserved on-site for public display so that visitors could understand more about the historical background of this unique area. To further enhance the accessibility of the promenade, we also received a lot of support from ArchSD on the design of a friendly, walkable trail so that elderly and disabled people can also enjoy the harbourfront space.

We are very proud to see the opening of this new landmark which was built according to locals’ aspiration and provide the infrastructure to support various kinds of activities of the non-government stakeholders and we wish more community members, such as schools, district and non-government organisations, could utilise the Central and Western District Promenade (Western Wholesale Food Market Section) to organise activities that can enhance social cohesion in Hong Kong.