Newsletter No. 175

4 No. 175 19th December 2000 CUHK Newsletter Redeveloped Teaching Bui lding (Phase V) on Chung Chi Campus Now in Use The Redeveloped Teaching Building (Phase V) is the latest building structure on the University campus. Situated on Chung Chi Road near the Chung Chi entrance of the University, it consists of two blocks. The higher block is a 12-storey teaching building with an annex containing a concert hall, four large lecture halls, and 16 classrooms. The lower block is a six-storey administration building housing Chung Chi's college office. Top: The spacious lobby Middle: One of the four lecture halls Bottom: Trial performance in the world-class concert hall Tenants of the New Teaching Block According to Ms. Amy Yui, Secretary of the Committee on Space Allocation, the lecture halls and the classrooms are the first to be in use as fitting out and decoration works for the offices take time. From September this year, lectures and classes have been held in the teaching block. Teaching and research units wi ll move in later in two phases. Tenants of the first phase include the Department of Nursing, the Department of Economics, the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, and the Joint Laboratory for Geo information Science. The Department of Psychology, currently housed in the Sino Building, wi ll also establish some of its teaching and research facilities in the new teaching block. Tenants of the second phase include the Office of Academic Links (China) and the Hong Kong-America Center, which are expected to move in from the Tin Ka Ping Building before the end of next year. Archi tectural Characteristics Designed by Leigh and Orange, the building incorporates features catering to teaching, relaxation, and artistic needs. The teaching block with a total gross floor area of 6,700 square metres and the administration block with 2,200 square metres were built in harmony with the natural terrain of the site. The architects have also built a garden on the podium of the teaching block to give the structure an extra touch of nature. The most unique feature is the concert hall, the only one i f its kind in Hong Kong's tertiary institutions, and one of the finest for chamber music in southeast Asia. Built with a donation from the Lee Hysan Foundation, it can accommodate 250 people. To preserve the originality of sounds, this state-of-the-art concert hall does away with loudspeaking facilities. And to ensure that the acoustics are up to international standard, the Department of Music recruited the help of famous concert hall designers Kirkegaard & Associates, who have designed over 300 concert halls all over the world, including Tanglewood in Boston. Details such as sound delivery, absorption, and reverberations are all meticulously calculated. The hall wi ll be ideal for performances with natural acoustics. The hall's interior design fell to Rocco Design, the same architects that designed the new wing of The Peninsula Ho t el and the Ci t i Bank Plaza in Central. Prof. Daniel Law of the Department of Music made a special trip to Bonn to pick a pipe organ for the concert hall, and Dr. Mary Wu went to Hamburg to place orders for a piano. A trial performance was held on 30th November. State-of-the-Art Facilities Situated on the ground floor of the teaching block is a spacious curved lobby with modem fittings and glass curtain walls, which can be used as an exhibition hall. The four lecture halls and classrooms are extremely advanced, all being installed w i t h audio-visual equipment including multi-purpose DVD and VCD players, VCRs, tape-recorders, CD players, and high- brightness LCD projectors. Computer cables are provided to allow teachers and students to use their portable computers and connect them to the University's servers or the Internet, while the latest CEN-TRAV system (with a user-friendly mini central remote control device) allows teachers to manipulate the audio-visual equipment and lighting systems with ease. In addition, built-in computers and visual presenters are installed in the four lecture halls, with a simultaneous interpretation and broadcast system also installed in LT1, allowing lectures there to be broadcast to the other three lecture halls in real time. BIG MOVES As many teaching staff have moved out of their campus residences, the University has decided to turn University Residences 5 to 9 into hostels for postgraduate students. The old Postgraduate Hall Complex will be renovated and turned into an undergraduate hostel, with two floors reserved for the Office of International Studies Programmes and the Office of Academic Links (International). Renovation work on the Postgraduate Hall should be completed in 2001. The use of the redeveloped teaching block on Chung Chi and the moves of teaching and research units entail a series of other changes. Emptied space wi ll be allocated to new users. Details are as follows: O ld Tenants Venue New Tenants Department of Nursing Sino Building Faculties of Education and Medicine (research projects) Department of Nursing, Office of International Studies Programmes Tsang Shiu Tim Building School of Journalism and Communication, Department of Government and Public Administration Department of Economics Fung King Hey Building Faculty of Business Administration Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies Tin Ka Ping Building University Library Chung Chi College Office Sino Building School of Chinese Medicine Office of Academic Links (International), Office of Academic Links (China), and Hong Kong-America Center Tin Ka Ping Building Universities Service Centre