The document describes the South China Sea Coliseum project in Hong Kong, a large multi-purpose facility built in 1982 over a busy railway station to provide recreational and cultural activities for residents. An inverted pyramid structural design was used to cantilever the coliseum from corner columns down to foundations beneath the railway tracks, allowing an unobstructed arena space. The coliseum featured a double-layer steel space frame roof that was assembled on the ground and hoisted into place to provide seating for 12,500 spectators for a variety of sports and entertainment events.

1. CHINA
South China Sea
Project Data
Client: Urban Services
Department
Architect: Architectural
Office, Building
Development Department,
Hong Kong
Date: 1982
Building Services
Consultant:J. Roger
Preston and Partners
Electrical and Mechanical:
Electrical and Mechanical
Services Department
Roof T. Y. Lin, Consulting
Engineers, Hong Kong
Cost: $140 million Hong
Kong
Locationplan
Text compiled by the editors.
All drawings and
photographs courtesy ofthe
Architectural Services
Department, HonJ!. Kong.
Coliseum, Hong Kong
T he programme for this
huge multi-purpose facil-
ity encompassed a varie-
ty of recreational activi-
ties for inhabitants of this
soon-to-be decolonised
British territory. Apart from the enor-
mous scale of providing seating for some
12,500 spectators, the task was indeed
complicated by the choice of the site:
directly over the HUNG HOM Railway
Terminus overlooking the bay. Structu-
ral ingenuity in solving both the support
system and the roof is one of the out-
standing features of the coliseum which
has considerable symbolic and prestige
value for residents of the territory.
An 'inverted' pyramid was the reply
to an intricate railway track system that
ultimately precluded utilisation of multi-
ple column supports. Consequently, the
coliseum cantilevers from 4 main comer
box columns that are carried down to
caisson foundations beneath track level.
These along with 12 secondary columns
virtually bear the entire weight of the
building. In this way, the structural solu-
34
·tion has influenced the formal design
while allowing for an internal arena space
that is relatively free of columns. The
architects found that the pyramid shape
- in its inverted position - lent itself
ideally to resolving the need for a max-
imum amount ofgrand stand seating, by
radiating outward as one moves higher
up the walls. Hence, spectators benefit
from an unobstructed view of the arena.
The walls of the stadium, which are
supported by the 4 hollow-core pylons at
the comers and the 12 intermediary col-
umns, are comprised of 176 sloping, pre-
stressed concrete beams that are cantile-
vered from the columns; the cantilever
network is then tied together by a series
of post-tensioned ring beams, with the
uppermost one serving as the edge beam
supporting the roof Assembl'ing these
was accomplished in 7 phases, each stage
completing a roughly 3 metre section of
wall. As for the space frame roof, it is
double-layered and made essentially of
I-section beams - the total weight being
1,199 tons of structural steel. This was
then covered with double T precast con-
crete panels. In order to reduce to a mini-
mum the amount of work that had to be
executed at a high level, the steel roof
structure was assembled at ground level
and hoisted to the required height bifore
work on the concrete walls of the sta-
dium began. Temporary towers held the
roof in place (as well as serving other,
additional needs) until construction was
terminated and the roof lowered to its
permanent seat on the walls.
Activities scheduled in the new col-
iseum range from sports such as basket-
ball, table-tennis, and.badminton to ice-
View from the south-east.

2. skating (pipings are embedded in the
floor to create an ice rink), concerts, bal-
let, circuses and parades. Three large
function rooms have been provided, as
well as a 1,250 square metre restaurant
which is adjacent to the main building. A
22,000 square metre landscaped piazza
surrounds the coliseum and some indoor
activities can be extended out of doors as
the demand arises.
As a state conceived, funded, and
administrated project the coliseum is un-
questionably the most modem of tech-
nological achievements, celebrating pub-
lic sports and cultural events as leisure for
the masses. Rarely have colonial practices
reached such heights .. . It is probable that
rapid industrialisation, scarcity of land,
and requirements for public welfare in
the particular context of Hong Kong
have each had their bearing on the sta-
dium's production. So that whatever re-
servations that may emerge regarding the
aesthetic character of the complex might
be tempered by the mass leisure it en-
hances in a congested city.
However, it might be remembered
that disengagement from colonialism in
other parts of the 'developing' world has
frequently been accomplished by a reex-
amination of traditional culture. Has
Hong Kong's history really been so diffe-
rent from other places that a deeper eva-
luation ofindigenous culture and alterna-
tive aesthetic expressions to a high-tech
Western architecture has yet to develop?
35
/ 1
_ _ _......::::::....... L . I
Top: Sketch oj the Coliseum.
Above: View from the south-west at podium level.
Below: Another view ofthe Coliseum.

3. ,
A
Grand stand plan
..... B
Upper part ofarena
..... B
36
(DN
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A
Left: Ramp leading towards the arena.
Above: View ofa rear exit.

4. r"",B
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Ground.floorplan
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jl..... B PodirHn
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Spaceframe roof(over
o0 EidopllOre projection
(xiI (xiI (xiI
Podium
Section BB
SectionAA
37
Railway track lellel
Podium
Sub-way
Railway {rack level

5. 38
Left and left, below: Interior
views. .