The completion of Hong Kong International Airport in 1998 triggered the evolution of the previous Kai Tak airport district into a new business and residential community for Kowloon Bay. Although only minutes from the high-value urban core of the Tsim Sha Tsui and Mongkok districts, lower land prices provided unique opportunities. The combination of competitive land costs and larger development footprints provided an opportunity to accommodate the economic trend of big-box retailing prevalent throughout the world and Asia. MegaBox is a unique response as the world’s first high-rise power center.

Zoning the multiple levels into sub-districts of leasing and spatial experiences eased understanding and orientation of the project’s 18 levels. Sub-strategies of express escalators facilitated vertical movement within. An express vehicular spiral ramp allowed expedient access and parking from below, the sides and the top. As the virtual starter block for Kowloon Bay, MegaBox establishes itself as the primary catalyst for the future of this new district’s growth.

The iconic entertainment zone was created and envisioned to draw visitors to the upper levels of MegaBox. MegaIce, the largest indoor ice rink in China, UA Cinema/IMAX and the multi-level collective food terraces called the Bee Hive, work together to virtually defy gravity and now attracts over 22 million visitors to MegaBox each year.

Project directed by Brian Honda while at the Jerde Partnership, Inc. and completed at MIX